Gregg Wilson

Tom,

This is becoming repetative.

Gregg, your graviton explanation about ocean tides makes sense, to some degree. I’m still trying to wrap my mind around how to fit gravitons into a standard physics or how to perhaps replace or redefine standard concepts and entities to make a consistent alternative physics.

I will make statements below, representing my ignorance/understanding. Please comment on them or correct them from your alternative viewpoint. I am comparing gravitons to photons for the sake of expressing myself. Perhaps this is confusing me, let me know your view.

1. Standard physics considers a graviton to be a hypothetical particle, without mass like a photon. 

The graviton is real. It has mass and velocity. It does NOT emit light or reflect light.

2. There are various ways to detect or infer the presence of photons, such as a photomultiplier tube, Compton scattering, etc. They can be described by Maxwell’s equations. 

Light is a wave, much like a wave in the ocean, excpet it is a wave in the light carrying medium.

3. There is no way to detect gravitons. How do we know they exist?

You cannot detect them by light. You detect them by gravity. They are far too small to be detected individually. Think about a magnet.

4. How do you know, or why do you think, that gravitons travel much faster than the speed of light?

If they traveled at the speed of light, they would arrive too late at the Earth. The Earth would have moved. The solar system would dissipate.

5. What is the source of gravitons? Can they be generated now? Or were they only generated in the past? 

They are permanent and universal. They are not generated - no lifespan at all.

6. How do gravitons create a field of uniform flux in all directions? Light will come from a luminescent object, from certain direction but not equally from all directions. It seems that gravitons have to come equally from all directions. Is that right? (For example the cosmic background radiation is said to come from all directions, although it is not quite uniformly distributed.)

The gravitons travel in all directions. You only have a differential gravitational field when there is a body which reflects them.

7. How do gravitons interact with ordinary matter? I think you mentioned, in reference to wandering planets, that gravitons are absorbed by the ‘nuclear core’ of planets. Can you offer more detail about that?

They impact ordinary matter. PUSH. Neutron cores completely reflect them. They repel at the same velocity they had coming in. Which is why a nuclear core does not have a DIFFERENTIAL gravity field.

8. How do gravitons push ordinary objects like people, cars and feathers to create a force accelerating them analogously to conventional gravity? In other words, how do they interact with the objects? 

I explained already that gravitons coming down to the Earth's surface have a higher velocity than gravitons coming up out of Earth.

9. Is it that gravitons are simply hypothesized to replace conventional gravity because you consider conventional gravity obviously wrong for some reason? What is the reason that conventional gravity is wrongly conceived?

Newton did NOT say gravity was attractive. He said "No!". Explain how an attractive force would work?!

10. From a practical point of view, standard conceptions of gravity and gravitational force equations obviously work, at least in aeronautics and astronautics, don’t they? Why not just accept conventional physics?

Newton's equation does not say how gravity works. It simply enables you to calculate a final unknown if you have assumed values for all the other variables. Because gravitons finally collide with one another at about 3,000 light years distance, Newton's equation does not work  accurately at distances beyond 3,000 light years. The equation is no longer 1 / d² but 1 / d.

Thanks for taking the time to consider my questions.

Tom Chavez

Betty,

Thank you for your honest and considerate response, and your prayers for Kalindi. She is strengthening day by day.

You ask about my view of Christ Jesus. In personal terms, when I started to study and practice bhakti yoga I prayed to Jesus to protect me from going wrong. I felt and still feel his protection and blessing to proceed. I view Jesus as a pure devotee of God, as a representative of God, and as a spiritual master who taught by example and precept. He is one with God the Father and he wants us to be so also. “As you and I are one, let them also be one in Us.”—John 17.21

Some stress that one can’t approach God except through Jesus and that He is the only son of God. I take that to mean that in his historical time and place he was the only pure devotee. The Lord actually has unlimited sons, daughters and representatives. He also personally advents Himself, such as when he appeared to Moses as a burning bush. The Lord incarnates on various planets whenever there is a disturbance created by atheists; He incarnates to protect his devotees.

The name Christ comes from the Greek Christos, which is related to the Sanskrit Kṛṣta, the vocative form of Kṛṣṇa. One may invoke Christ or Kṛṣṇa, the name is the same. Kṛṣṇa is the Father; Christ is the son. They are one and they are different, simultaneously.

This age of Kali Yuga or Iron Age, is the winter of the ages, an age of ignorance and quarrel. But it has one redeeming factor. In this age the Lord incarnates in the form of His holy name. Simply by chanting or singing the names of God one can attain spiritual perfection. 

Christians chant the name of Jesus Christ, like the Jesus prayer; Hindus chant names of Kṛṣṇa; Buddhists chant names of Buddha, Jews chant names of Yahweh, and Muslims chant names of Allah. The holy names can be chanted silently within the mind, softly for private meditation or sung aloud by one or many. 

The Lord has unlimited names, but He remains always one without a second. Whatever our faith or religion, we should all unite around the world in service to Him. In the material world a name and its referent are different. Chanting ‘water, water, water’ will not quench one’s thirst. But the Lord is absolute and He is fully present in His holy names. The Lord and His name are the same. 

Jesus said, ““I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.” 

When we strive for spiritual elevation we encounter opposition from others and mostly from our own minds. Stand and fight. According to Sri Caitanya, the simplest, most effective and most authorized way to transcend is to always remember and chant the names of the Lord in a humble and tolerant state of mind, offering all respect to others. 

A picture of a harinam (holy name) party in Rome follows. I will send video to your email address, since I cannot attach it here. 

You mention other topics, to which I may reply later. Thanks again for your thoughts and prayers. I sincerely appreciate them. Please excuse me if I have inadvertently offended anyone.

Happy Thanksgiving! Pardon the turkeys!

Tom Chavez

Gregg, thanks for your patience.

After Betty said that I always want to be right, I thought that perhaps I had dismissed graviton theory too quickly as alien alternative physics. I thought that perhaps graviton theory is equivalent to regular gravity from a different perspective, just as different orthonormal sets can form the basis of the same vector space. 

My question about tidal forces related to 'spaghettification' and the diagram I sent you in #589. But you took it to be about regular ocean tides. It is complicated to explain my actual question, so instead I asked for more info about gravitons, hoping that more info would resolve my doubt. 

You say gravitons cannot be detected, but they have mass and velocity. If they are not detectable how are their mass and speed measured? I asked, but you avoided this question.

You say gravitons are permanent and universal. Science works because the universe operates under laws of cause and effect. You claim that gravitons have no cause and are undetectable. Why should I believe that? 

You say gravitons are reflected by neutron cores and slowed down by passing through the earth. It seems that over time there would be considerable variation in the graviton flux due to an accumulation of such changes. Gravity would be influenced by such variation and hence would not be a consistent force in this theory. 

You claim that Newton said “no!”, that gravity is not an attractive force. Here is what he actually said, in Newton's 1713 General Scholium in the second edition of Principia: "I have not yet been able to discover the cause of these properties of gravity from phenomena and I feign no hypotheses.... It is enough that gravity does really exist and acts according to the laws I have explained, and that it abundantly serves to account for all the motions of celestial bodies." 

You ask how an attractive force would work, as if such a force were impossible.  Let me give two well-established examples.

Magnetism is an attractive force explained as a vector field which influences electric charges in relative motion and magnetized materials. This force is utilized in the action of electric motors.

In particle physics the strong nuclear force binds protons and neutrons together to form the nucleus of atoms. Most of the mass of a common proton or neutron is the result of the strong force field energy.

There is no absolute proof in science, but theories should be supported by evidence and consistent logic. Empirical evidence should come from replicable experiments which can be tested and re-confirmed or de-confirmed by others. 

Standard theories in physics, such as gravitation, relativity, and quantum mechanics, are supported by both experimental evidence and logically consistent theories. Mathematical laws have been formulated for these theories and tested repeatedly.

Bob Bramel told me that extraordinary claims should be supported by extraordinary evidence. 

So far, I have seen no solid evidence for the graviton theory, or even for the existence of gravitons, and no mathematical laws governing their behavior, what to speak of extraordinary evidence.

With Betty as my witness, I am not saying that I am right or that you are wrong. But the preponderant evidence for modern scientific theories is compelling, and the results of modern science are convincing. 

Whereas the evidence for gravitons, from what you have given me, is underwhelming. I really don’t know what convinces you about gravitons and the grand claims you make for graviton theory. Maybe you are right, and Einstein and other modern scientists are wrong.

I have tried to understand, but I just don’t see it. Sorry to be repetitive. It won’t happen again.

Linda Pompeo (Worden)

Happy Thanksgiving and blessings to everyone.  It is a day to give thanks for all we have: for the beauty of the world around us, for friends and family...and for the right to share opinions with one another.  We may not all agree on everything.....but we have all been blessed by a great and loving God.  For that I  am most thankful. 

Eat lots of pie and be joyful....for we never know if we will get another day to do so!

Gregg Wilson

Tom,

You say gravitons cannot be detected, but they have mass and velocity. If they are not detectable how are their mass and speed measured? I asked, but you avoided this question.

I did not say they cannot be detected. I said they do not emit light or reflect light. Other astronomers have detected them through observation of celestial mechanics. Their speed has lower limit (~twenty billion times the speed of light) so that aberration does not happen with celestial bodies. A number for mass is unknown.

You say gravitons are permanent and universal. Science works because the universe operates under laws of cause and effect. You claim that gravitons have no cause and are undetectable. Why should I believe that? 

Gravitons do not come into being or cease to exist. They are forever. Cause and effect does not apply.

You say gravitons are reflected by neutron cores and slowed down by passing through the earth. It seems that over time there would be considerable variation in the graviton flux due to an accumulation of such changes. Gravity would be influenced by such variation and hence would not be a consistent force in this theory. 

Gravitons do not accumulate within a body. They go back out. The gravity effect does not change unless "normal" matter of a body increases or decreases.

You claim that Newton said “no!”, that gravity is not an attractive force. Here is what he actually said, in Newton's 1713 General Scholium in the second edition of Principia: "I have not yet been able to discover the cause of these properties of gravity from phenomena and I feign no hypotheses.... It is enough that gravity does really exist and acts according to the laws I have explained, and that it abundantly serves to account for all the motions of celestial bodies." 

I quote Newton: "That one body may act upon another at a distance through a vacuum, without mediation of anything else, by and through which their action and force may be conveyed from one to the other, is to me so great an absurdity, that I believe no man who has in philosophical matters a competent faculty of thinking, can ever fall into it."

You ask how an attractive force would work, as if such a force were impossible.  Let me give two well-established examples.

Magnetism is an attractive force explained as a vector field which influences electric charges in relative motion and magnetized materials. This force is utilized in the action of electric motors.

Magnetism is "attractive" to only magnetic materials. But turn the magnet around, it is repulsive to another magnet. I will give an example where people think that a vacuum cleaner is attractive. The motor and fan push air out one end, thereby creating a vacuum within it. The outside air pushes into the the receiving end of the vacuum.

In particle physics the strong nuclear force binds protons and neutrons together to form the nucleus of atoms. Most of the mass of a common proton or neutron is the result of the strong force field energy.

Nice theory. There is no strong nuclear force. You have to prove that it exists.

Standard theories in physics, such as gravitation, relativity, and quantum mechanics, are supported by both experimental evidence and logically consistent theories. Mathematical laws have been formulated for these theories and tested repeatedly.

Or misinterpreted and only theories. Mathematics are equations, which one can calculate a final unknown if values are assumed for the other variables. The equation does not explain the how and why.

There are many scientists and astronomers who agree with the graviton flux theory.

Al Peffley

Guys, you have posted some interesting information on physics theories and proposed/observed celestial mechanics - all discussions pretty deep for my more limited educational level of accomplishment and perceived knowledge. Whatever the true elements, mechanisms and processes of gravity are it's still very useful for maintaining our existence here on the "big blue marble" in our solar system home. We are constantly learning how changes to the human body are not always healthy for mankind when our physical bodies are exposed to insitu outer space environs away from earth. If humans want to travel on extended outer space voyages we need to know how changes in gravity effect our human health and lifetime length. Gravity effects knowledge is significant to insuring the best outcomes of future manned space travel and colonization on other celestial objects in space away from our earth home. The human body is a complex living system that depends on environmental conditions present on our home planet.

May all of our classmates have a thoughtful and joyous Thanksgiving celebration with family and friends this Thursday. We have a lot to be thankful for in America, especially if you compare our personal lives and individual freedoms with civilizations and cultures of the recorded past.

My family is very grateful for the support and companionship with people of good will and loving relations that we have shared our lives with for decades. Every day is a gift (aptly called "the present") from our Creator. Each day we have the opportunity to love and share our perishable and valuable gifts with our fellow human beings. My family has benefited for centuries from the fruits of subsistance and freedom granted by our Creator. We enjoy riches that are priceless if we choose to acknowledge these benefits every day of our lives. We set aside one day a year to celebrate the generous blessings bestowed to our families and our Republic (after its conception by a very wise, respectful, humble, loving, and honorable group of human beings -- brave people who formed the framework for the most unique nation of mixed cultures and traditions in world history.)

May we always be thankful for what is good. We live in an imperfect world of human interactions and limited, God-provided resources. Many of us believe our life is divinely-granted with grace and an eternal love for us, the "created".  Our local family will give thanks to our Creator for our life blessings this Thursday over a special meal and time of family sharing. We will hopefuly not highlight our differences at this celebration, but our blessings in life from God.

I helped my family bury my brother and his wife this last Friday in the Connecticut Veteran's Cemetery. They were both 87 years old, and both of them died this year under peaceful circumstances. Their 88th birthdays would have been two weeks ago. There will be two empty seats at their joint families' Thanksgiving dinner table this year in Connecticut. "Do not regret growing older. It's a privilege denied to many." (Author unknown to me.)

May God bless you all this national holiday season. Share the love generously.

Al & Bon

Tom Chavez

Al, nice profound sobering thoughts. We are grateful for our brothers, friends and family members. We have the benefit of their association while they are with us, and fond memories when they depart. There is no loss. It’s all good. If they had never been born, that would be a loss. I hope your knee is better.

I’m grateful to be on planet Earth with all our fellow inhabitants—humans, birds, beasts, plants, etc. They are all God’s creatures and I respect each of them, to the smallest ant. By the Lord’s arrangement we all share spaceship earth, and we all have our parts to play and lessons to learn. I’m grateful for gravity, which holds me on the planet so I don’t fall up into the freezing vacuum of outer space.

Gregg, good volley. I think I found something we can agree on about gravity in common with Professor Einstein.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Virginia Wolfe (Scheffer)

Happy Thanksgiving to all my class mates....gobble 'till you wobble!!!

Tom Chavez

Betty, here is a follow up in response to your last message.

You say that the books I quote from are unknown to you and you don’t understand the quotes. Jesus said, “I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.” (John 16:12) Personally, I find these ancient texts very interesting and informative.

As you know, the Bible does not describe much of the life of Jesus, the ‘missing years’ between the ages of 12 and 30. Many think that Jesus travelled during these years to India. Evidence can be found in a book titled Jesus Lived in India by Holger Kersten. The disciple Thomas definitely lived and preached in India; his tomb is in Chennai. 

The Byzantine emperor Justinian in 553 A.D. (at the Second Council of Constantinople) banned the teachings of reincarnation from the Christian scriptures. There remain, however, certain allusions to reincarnation in the Bible. 

“When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Who do men say that I am? And they replied, Some say that thou art John the Baptist; some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the other prophets.” (Matthew 16:13-14) 

Francis Bowen of Harvard, cites a number of such Gospel passages, and remarks in Christian Metempsychosis: “That the commentators have not been willing to receive, in their obvious and literal meaning, assertions so direct and so frequently repeated as these, but have attempted to explain them away in a non-natural and metaphorical sense, is a fact that proves nothing but the existence of an invincible prejudice against the doctrine of the transmigration of souls.” 

The rebirth of saviors and prophets is clear in Christian teaching, but what about ordinary men? Do they return? The disciples of Jesus seemed to consider this possible in their question about the man who was born blind. They asked: “Who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he is born blind?” The disciples must have had reincarnation in mind, for obviously if the man is born blind his sin could not have been committed in this life. 

I did not intend to “lump all Christians into one collective group.” Gandhi’s quote referred to British Christians he met in India. He reacted to their hypocrisy and cruelty, just as Chinese reacted to the British military enforcement of “open markets” to addict Chinese people to opium. Not all Christians are like that and, in fact, there are now many native Christians in both India and China thanks to the influence of good Christians.

You suggest that I have misunderstand the Bible in reference to meat eating. The real problem is in translation from Greek to English. For example, Acts 16:34 translates, “he set meat before them.” The original Greek word used here is trapesa, table. It actually says that "he set a table before them."

The following Greek words are all mis-translated many times in the Bible as “meat.” 

‘Broma’ means ‘food’, ‘brosis’ means ’the act of eating’, ‘phago’ means ‘to eat’, ‘brosimos’ means ‘that which may be eaten’, ‘trophe’ means ‘nourishment’ and ‘prophagon’ means ‘anything to eat.’ As far as I can see, if we look at the original words, the Bible discourages and does not condone meat-eating.

Some Christians claim exclusivity based upon Matthew 14:6: “I am the way, the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father except through me.” The original Greek is: “ego eimi ha hodos kai ha alatheia kai ha zoa; oudeis erketai pros ton patera ei ma di emou.”

The Greek word erketai is extremely present tense. This, of course, changes the whole meaning to, “I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one can presently come to the Father except through me”. 

Dr. Boyd Daniels of The American Bible Society confirms, “The word erketai is definitely the present tense form of the verb. Jesus was speaking to his contemporaries.” 

The Codex Sinaticus, our earliest existing Greek manuscript of the New Testament, is in the British Museum. It was written in the year 331 A.D., six years after the Council of Nicaea. We have no New Testament manuscripts from before this council. 

It is a challenge to understand the original meanings of Biblical verses. Intelligent and open-minded thoughtfulness is warranted.

Paws for Prayer

Tom Chavez

Below is a little illustration I cooked up to show time relativity. It is preliminary toward understanding time dilation, or why time speeds up and slows down. I’d like to see that figuratively, because the math is beyond me. Can someone on this forum explain? I would like to understand why space is curved, but some among us say it is not, so that may be impossible.

Tom Chavez

Mahabharata 5: The Birth of Pandu and Vidura

After the blind son was born, named Dhritarashtra, Satyavati again called Vyasadeva, this time to approach Ambalika, the second wife of his brother. When Ambalika saw Vyasadeva, she became pale with fright. 

Vyasadeva told her, “Because you were pale with fear, your child shall be pale in complexion and will be called Pandu (the pale).”

When he told this to the Queen Mother, Satyavati, she again implored him to give another child. He responded, “So be it, after this one is born,” and went away.

Ambalika brought forth a handsome child of pale complexion endued with all auspicious marks. This child, Pandu, became the father of the mighty Pandavas.

Then Satyavati requested Ambika to receive Vyasadeva for a second time, to get another son. But Ambika disobediently sent a beautiful well-decorated maid servant in her place.

The maid servant received Vyasadeva very respectfully and amiably. Before leaving, Vyasadeva told her that she would no longer be a maid servant, and her child would be fortunate, virtuous and most intelligent among men.

This son of Vyasadeva was called Vidura, the brother of Dhritarashtra and Pandu. Vidura, free from desires and conversant with the rules of governance, was actually Yamaraja, the demigod of death, born as the son of a sudrani (maid servant) due to the curse of Mandavya Rishi.

What did Yamaraja do for which he was cursed to be born as a Sudra, the son of a maid servant? This is the story.

The great ascetic Mandavya used to sit, for years together, at the entrance to his hermitage observing the vow of silence. One day some robbers laden with plunder came there, pursued by the police. The thieves hid their booty and themselves about the hermitage.

Almost immediately afterward the police arrived. Seeing Mandavya Rishi seated beneath a tree, they asked him where had the robbers gone? But the sage, observing silence, remained quiet.

The officers of the king searched the hermitage and discovered the stolen goods and the thieves. Suspicious of the sage, they arrested him along with the thieves and brought them all before the king, who sentenced them all to be executed.

The robbers and Rishi were impaled and kept without food until they all appeared dead. But by his yogic power, the Rishi maintained his life air within, and after being taken down revived his external consciousness. When the police discovered that he was still alive they informed the king, who consulted with his advisors.

The king then came before the Rishi to apologize and release him. Later, when Mandavya came before Yamaraja, Lord of death, he asked, “What sin did I commit to suffer impalement?”

Yamaraja told him that he had once, as a child, pierced an insect with a straw.

Mandavya declared, “Today be it hereby established by me that an act shall not be sinful when committed by one below the age of fourteen. Because you have ordained a punishment of inordinate severity, I curse you to be born among men as a Sudra.”

Cursed for this fault, Yamaraja took birth as Vidura, ever possessed of great foresight and undisturbed tranquillity, and devoted to the welfare of the Kurus.

Bhisma ruled and brought up the three children. Dhritarashtra was the strongest, Pandu excelled in archery, and Vidura excelled in devotion to virtue and knowledge of morality.

Next: Kunti and the Sun god.

Betty Weiks (Rickard)

Hi Tom!

Thanks for your last message.  I'm going to have to put a hold on my responses for now. I'm in the process of writing a book and need to give it my serious attention. Its a memoir about my journey to become a living kidney donor for my oldest, adopted son three years ago.  I'm hoping to finish the first draft in another three months.

Its interesting to me that you are living in China.  Somehow I thought you lived in Texas!  Do you have children living there with you? We had a great Thanksgiving with nearly our whole family and are looking forward to this advent season. Hope you and Kalindi are well and enjoying the season.

Blessing!

Gregg Wilson

I got sick and tired of looking older than dirt. So, now I am 52 years younger but totally clueless.

Al Peffley

Gregg,

Is that picture of you over 50 years ago taken in one of those old photo booths?

Hey buddy, WE ARE OLDER THAN DIRT!  LOL!

At least we are still here to type these messages to each other (some Message Forum readers would probably prefer we were'nt.)

Merry Christmas and here's to a Happy (and alive) New Year!

I extend these holiday greetings in spite of the inept politicians in WDC who want to ruin this Holiday Season for everybody else in the Cascadia Region of the "New Amerika Union". We need more decent and caring people that encourage, support, and love all North American people of good will. It would be a pleasant surprise if the Grinches in the House of Reprehensables would get back to passing Bills into Laws for the betterment of all American citizens (instead of sustaining their political careers and personal wealth gains.) That legislative work achievement would be a wonderful gift this Christmas for the American taxpayer.

A picture from our family's summer retreat trip to celebrate Bon's 70th birthday in Cabo, Mexico:

Cabo San Lucas Harbor's Yacht Marina viewed from the waterfront's restaurant row - June, 2019

Tom Chavez

Hi Betty,

Good luck on your book! It sounds real. In the 80s I managed a small publishing house. We used MS Word for book production. In recent decades I used Adobe InDesign for my full-color business catalogues. My wife is a trained proof-reader for the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust. It would be an honor to help with your book in any way. You have my email.

My business was warehoused in Houston. We are tying up loose ends after selling it last year. Serendipitously for Kalindi, St Luke’s Baylor College of Medicine is here, the most experienced in the world in heart operations. We hope to spend most of our future in China and India for the adventure, economical cost of living, and refined culture. Wherever we go, we feel like we are with friends and family.

All the joy and blessings of Christmas advent to you and to all!

Tom Chavez

Mahabharata 6: Kunti and the Sun god

King Surasena had a son name Vasudeva (who became the father of Krishna) and a daughter named Pritha. He also had a cousin named Kuntibhoja (u pronounced like u in push) who had no children. King Surasena was fond of his cousin and felt sorry that he had no child, so he gave Pritha to Kuntibhoja to be brought up as his own.

Pritha was very beautiful with excellent manners.She was the most cherished possession of her foster-father. She was given the name Kunti.

Once, the sage Durvasa came to the capital of Kuntibhoja. He was famed throughout the world for his austerities and for his temper, too! If he were displeased, he could wreak havoc by his curse. Kunti was appointed by her father to attend to the sage. She discharged this difficult task admirably. Indeed, the sage was so pleased with her that he granted her a boon.

Durvasa called Kunti to his presence and told her he would teach her a mantra incantation which, if properly enunciated, would call any deva (demigod) to come to her. Kunti received this gift with the humility becoming a daughter of a king. Thereafter, Durvasa went his way.

Young Kunti did not fully understand the meaning of the mantra. One early morning, through an eastern window, she watched the sun dawning. The east was drenched the color of liquid gold. The waters of the Yamuna River lapped against the wall of the palace, reflecting the soft morning beams of the sun. The beautiful scene touched Kunti’s heart.

The sun look gorgeous. Kunti thought how wonderful it would be if the sun god could be there by her side. In a flash she remembered the mantra the great Durvasa had given her. Why, if she recited it properly, the sun god would come to her!

The innocent child held her palms together and enunciated the mantra very carefully. She opened her eyes. A miracle was happening with the sun’s rays. She was blinded by a brilliance, and suddenly the sun god stood by her side, looking at her with an amused smile.

Kunti was extremely pleased with her success. She smiled happily and clapped her hands in excitement, exclaiming. “Sage Durvasa said that it would work! You looked so magnificent that I wanted you to come here. So I recited the mantra he taught me. How wonderful! You have come!”

The sun god was still smiling. He said, “Now that I am here, what do you want me to do?” 

“Why, nothing,” said Kunti. “I just wanted to see you. That’s all.”

“That is not all,” said the god. “It is evident that you did not understand the deeper meaning of the mantra. Do you not understand that it means the god will embrace you and give you a son in the image of the god whom you have summoned?”

Kunti was bewildered. “I did not know it,” said the frightened child. “I had no idea that the words meant this. Please forgive my childishness. Please go away and save me from shame.”

“That is impossible,” said the sun god. “You must accept me. You cannot escape the power of the mantra which you have used unthinkingly.”

Kunti was beside herself with grief. “I am a young girl,” she said. “I am unmarried. What will the world say? What will my father say? It will break his heart to know that I am no longer a virgin. Can you not go away?”

The sun god was charmed by this girl who was barely a woman. He pacified her heart with his sweet words and reassuring smile. He said, “Do not be frightened. After our child is born, you will again become a virgin as you are now. No one will know of this incident.”

Kunti was won over by his words and his beauty. She accepted him without fear of the consequences.

Before he left, the sun god said, “Your son will be born with natural kavacha  (golden armor) and kundala (earrings). He will be the image of me. He will be a great archer. In goodness of heart no one will equal him. He will be famed as the most generous of givers, unable to refuse anyone anything. His fame will live in this world as long as the sun and moon move in their orbits.” Then he vanished from her sight.

Very soon, Kunti gave birth to a beautiful child born with natural armor and earrings—golden kavacha and kundala. But her joy of motherhood was overwhelmed by a sense of shame. She looked out the window at the placid river, but in her heart a storm was brewing. She made up her mind. 

Wrapping the child in silk, she placed him in a wooden box and carried it to the bank of the river. She set the box afloat and came back to her apartments. From her window she saw the box floating away, further and further away from her. She felt that her heart was choking inside her with a great pain, an unspeakable ache for that helpless child floating on the mighty river. 

Tears poured from Kunti’s eyes. Lifting her hands in supplication to the sun, she cried, “My Lord, I have done a great injustice to our beautiful child. Please guard him. Please don’t let any evil befall him.”

She spoke to her disappearing child, “May your path be auspicious. The lord of the waters will guard you. You will not die. All the gods in heaven will guard you. I will see you some day in the distant future and recognize you by your kavacha and kundala. She will be a fortunate woman who finds you and brings you up as her son. She will very happily see you grow into manhood. But I am most unfortunate. I will never have you for my son. God bless you, my child, my first born.”

The laughing girl became a woman all of a sudden. Gone were the days of carefree girlhood. Waking or sleeping, she saw just one thing: a wooden box and a length of silk; wrapped in the silk, a beautiful child with his kavaca and kundala gleaming in the light of the morning sun.

Duane Murphy

This is a long shot:  I am trying to locate Jeff Grant.  He was in my scout troop 360.   My hope is that he attended Highline High School (I am not sure) and was maybe a year ahead of us.  60 years ago, I'll bet he was living in Seahurst. 

Gregg Wilson

Hi Duane,

Jeff Grant is not listed in the 1962 year book or the 1963 year book or the 1964 year book. You could contact Bill Hamilton.

Gregg Wilson

Hi Al,

That picture was taken when we were in infantry training. After a couple of weeks, the sarge let us go to the store to buy pogey bait. I wasted 25 cents getting photos instead of buying another perfectly good candy bar.

Infantry training didn't go too well for me. On one day we were taken out to fire 3.5" rocket launchers (bazookas). When it was my turn, the sarge loaded the round and slapped my hand on my head to proceed to fire. I squeezed the trigger and nothing happened. He fiddled with round to get a better electrical contact. Again nothing happened. With some cussing, he really worked on the round's contacts. I squeezed the trigger. The round sort of pooped out, skipped along the ground, hit the Sherman tank on a bogey wheel, richoceted straight up about 60 feet and detonated. The gunny said "Real swift, miss wilson." He promoted me to the rank of Joe shit the rag man. Had to live that down.

Al Peffley

Hi Duane,

Jeff Grant graduated in 1963 from HHS. He is listed in the 1963 Pirates' Log (white cover) on page 37. I remember him as a Knight of the Cutlass. He probably is 73 or 74 years old now if still alive. I'l ask a friend if he has seen him at a recent reunion. Did he live in Normandy Park?

Al

Tom Chavez

Gregg, what was that about you wanting to get away from all the idiots in the universities?

HUMAN DEVOLUTION Part 1: Modern IQ steadily declining

A  study from researchers in Europe claims that the average IQ in Western nations dropped by a staggering 14.1 points over the past century. The study can be found here: https://lesacreduprintemps19.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/were-the-victorians-smarter-than-us.pdf

"We tested the hypothesis that the Victorians were cleverer than modern populations using high-quality instruments, namely measures of simple visual reaction time in a meta-analytic study," the researchers wrote in the study, which was published online in the journal Intelligence in 2013. "Simple reaction time measures correlate substantially with measures of general intelligence and are considered elementary measures of cognition."

The results were measured using data from 1889 to 2004 and were analyzed by Michael A. Woodley of Vrije Universiteit in Brussels, Jan te Nijenhuis of the University of Amsterdam and Raegan Murphy of the University College Cork in Ireland.

So why has there been such a steady drop? As UPI notes, previous research studies have found that women of higher intelligence tend to have fewer children on average, meaning that population growth may be driven by those with a lower IQ. And over time, the abundance of less intelligent offspring would affect the overall IQ average.

On average, the general intelligence of those populations measured dropped by 1.23 points per decade.

"These findings strongly indicate that with respect to general intelligence the Victorians were substantially cleverer than modern Western populations," the study says.

The study had other positive observations about the Victorian era, noting that economic efficiency began to flourish during the period and that the “height of the per capita numbers of significant innovations in science and technology, and also the per capita numbers of scientific geniuses,” occurred during that time, followed by a steady decline.

My comment: This result discounts gains coming mostly from environmental improvements, such as in South Korea, due to improved education, nutrition, hygiene, and exposure to cognitive complexity. Apparently, it does not discount lower IQ resulting from environmental pollution, drug usage and other modern bad habits.

Tom Chavez

How to become a millionaire Part 1

A reporter approached a millionaire and asked, “Sir, tell me the secret, how you became a millionaire.”

The millionaire replied, “Right decisions.”

The reporter asked, “Sir, how do you make right decisions?” 

He replied, “Experience.”

“Sir,” asked the reporter, “How did you get experience?”

“Wrong decisions.”

Al Peffley

The factors involved with developing Intelligence Quotient (IQ) in humans are complex. The freedom to create is not enhanced by over stimulation of the brain through mind-adicting electronics and visual depictions meant to alter human thinking processes. The early emphasis on self over social creativity that enhances the quality of life for everyone stifles IQ development. Children who spend their whole life indoors lack the knowledge of the world and nature that inspires creativity and invention skills. Good food (that feeds the brain cells properly), ample rest, and body exercise help to bring out the best in us mentally. Excessive drugs use, "legal" or illegal, alter our body chemistry with long term negative effects that dull our senses and minds. Self image is strong in high IQ people. Their concious and subconscious mind functions are in synchronization better than people who have a schizm between the two parts of the brain.

The measure of IQ is relative to a selected "standard" of human responses to documented tests. I would submit that the details of the tests have changed over time. Human reflexes are defined by our physical neuropathic system development that is genetic, not entirely formed by mental function and will. You can bring out better IQ responses by altering the brain chemistry processes, but artifically controlling the brain functions can also damage the delicate brain cells functional relationship for life.

My experience with high IQ score people at work is they tend to be less socially interactive and successful managers because they have less tolerance for people with perceived lower IQ's. The ones who are good "people" interaction persons are extremely successful and become leaders in their professional field by their intellegence and interactive achievements, not by their established network of academic-organized peers.

George Orwell was quite prophetic with his 1984 book depiction of an enslaved world civilization of educationally-brainwashed, controlled IQ human subjects. (I like that old Apple ad targeting the Microsoft product line followers - LOL!) Subjugated people are programmed to follow instructions from elite committees of international leadership rulers. Drugs, environmental living controls, and visual programming aids are used to influence individual people's thoughts and decisions. People who can think for themselves, that are not part of the pre-selected leadership class, are controlled by their social handlers or eliminated from society. There is no God or religious guidelines to live by, only the selected governing rules of the elite class of world order totalitarians. The "average" person is a servant of the elite in a controlled military state. Work ethic for the masses is for the benefit of the ruling class. Everything is provided to the masses by the leaders and everyone is assigned a work task to accomplish societal functions. IQ is purposely supressed to a level to enable the system to function as programmed by the New World Order. A Karl Marx dream come true.

Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. We are blessed to be Americans, with freedoms not allowed in some other countries of the world. Cheers!

Tom Chavez

Al, we have the freedom to become millionaires, to tell bad jokes and to wish everyone "Merry Christmas!" You can't do all that in some countries. Which reminds me.

How to become a millionaire. Part 2

A reporter wanted to know how to become a millionaire.

So, he asked a millionaire, "Please, sir, tell me your secret for becoming a millionaire."

He replied, “My wife.”

"Your wife? Well, what were you before you met your wife?”

“A billionaire.”

Gregg Wilson

Tom,

I bow to your infinite wisdom. But don't get started on how expensive wives are.