Just Finshed Reading The Fear Index by Robert Harris

I just finished reading The Fear Index, a 2011 book by Robert Harris.  It is a story about Alex Hoffman, an American mathematical genius who has moved to Geneva, Switzerland, first to work at its CERN Large Hadron Collider and then to settle down, get married...and start his own hedge fund company.  The abrupt change in career direction happens due to his invention of a very, very complex computer algorithm that permeates the Internet and infers patterns of investment behavior and factors, automatically acting upon them.  The rate of return in his company for his investors is staggeringly high, and his algorithm seems to work the best whenever there is any kind of panic in the market, causing fear reactions.  And then Hoffman discovers that someone in his own personal life is trying their hardest to cause him to be afraid for his own self...

The main characters in The Fear Index are Hoffman, his wife Gabrielle, his extroverted business partner Hugo Quarry, and the local police inspector Leclerc...who struck me as a Swiss version of Columbo (he lives across the border in France because it is cheaper there).  Hoffman's algorithm, set into action, is self-educating and as a budding Artificial Intelligence is developing two important traits of living things: a sense of personal survival and a tendency to test the meanings of words it learns...the most important one here being "fear".  The rest of the story flows from this and the ending perfectly describes the state we're plummeting headlong into with our increasing, devil-may-care dependency on computers and the Internet...

As a friend and former colleague...who recommended this book to me...alluded, there seems to be a tendency nowadays to see a lot of manipulation in the mass media...as well as social media...to frighten the population into adopting certain political stances, as well as making them rush to buy the "necessary" things that will protect them.  Fear is a great tool for propaganda as well as advertising, and it is pervasive...as well as running counter to informed, rational reasoning.  Folks terrified out of their senses tend to run in whatever direction the mob is going...and this is how those manipulating them can get what they want.  It seems like with too many people nowadays, their vision of the future is to avoid their artificially-induced nightmare scenarios instead of looking to create a better world for themselves and the society that they and their descendants will inhabit.  I also liked The Fear Index and recommend it...besides the message, the characters in it were well developed and believable while the story was suspenseful...

Sitting in a Starbucks at Noon on a Saturday

I'm sitting here in a very crowded Starbucks (the northernmost one in Gainesville) around noon on a Saturday.  The weather has changed to cooler and dryer conditions...it's about time!  It also looks as if we'll be enjoying a late winter here for at least another week, too.  Somehow I managed to avoid catching the flu this year...maybe I'm just one of those few lucky ones inoculated that the shot actually worked on, who knows.  Then again, it's not over yet...and friendly, well-meaning folks are still going around sneezing, coughing, blowing their noses...and wanting to shake my hand...

There's a college basketball game starting about now between Florida and Kentucky in the O'Connell Center on the UF campus.  Both teams are working hard to get into the NCAA tournament with the 23rd-ranked Wildcats having the edge right now...the Gators won the first game in Lexington earlier but have suffered injuries to center John Egbunu and forward Isaiah Stokes this year.  Still,  Florida seems to have recovered of late after undergoing a tough 2-5 stretch of conference games that included a few close losses...but will they be good enough to stop Kentucky's revamped and formidable scoring offense?  We'll see...the Gators right now have a 19-11 record but to their credit have played a challenging non-conference schedule, something that the NCAA usually takes into account when selecting teams for their championship tournament...

Beginning last Sunday after work I have begun splitting up my training by going at that late hour to my local 24/7 gym.  It was tough at the beginning to make that left turn on University Avenue instead of going straight home as I am usually tired at that time (10 pm)...but it's more of a mental fatigue issue than anything physical.  Getting a little exercise at that time seems to both help with my sleep as well as the following morning.  I tend to focus right now on the elliptical cross-trainer when I'm there.  The place is Gainesville Health and Fitness at 4880 Newberry Road...I'm glad that I am using their facilities more now and the time of day I'm there it's not too crowded...

At my job I have been working a lot of overtime over the past two months, especially in February when I put in at one time seventeen straight full workdays, with many of them having me report there early.  The extra hours are still going on in March, but so far I'm getting back at least one of my off-days: today is one of them, then it's back to work tomorrow.  Not that I'm complaining about the overtime: after all, I signed up for it...

Well, this Starbucks was very crowded when I first entered it, but it's since emptied out considerably.  I guess it's time to go up there and get a refill on my iced coffee...

Quote of the Week...from Frank Herbert

Seek freedom and become captive of your desires. Seek discipline and find your liberty.
                                                                                     Frank Herbert.

Frank Hebert was the author of the celebrated Dune science fiction series.  I just finished rereading the first book, simply titled Dune.  The remaining books I haven't read...but I'm getting ready to start on the next one, Dune Messiah.  The interstellar societies in this series, while technologically advanced, are autocratic and steeped in religion, intrigue, and exclusive organizations whose members are obliged to followed their strict discipline and way of thinking.  The protagonist is Paul, a young man who seems to be at the intersection of everyone's prophecies and as such finds himself continually confronted with situations directing his actions and words...he often sees his future as fated, with little freedom to change the tide of history of which he seems to be the center...

Apart from this series, the above quote stands on its own as something pretty profound.  Our true freedom lies in the choices we make...making choices leading to better self-control and positive behavior will lead to more and more opportunities to make further choices...this is the essence of freedom.  When I was a little kid in elementary school, we (and particularly I) would often raise the complaint "This is a free country, isn't it?" whenever one of those annoying grown-ups would come down on us for violating one of their many rules. Well, turns out that those rules serve a purpose: to give a dependable structure to our society where we can better see our options and ultimately have a chance to make good choices with our lives.  But try telling that to a ten-year old as he goes around skipping classes with impunity...

I don't know much about Frank Herbert, and I believe the quote I used is from one of his later Dune novels...so I don't know how he applied his own advice to his own life.  But sound advice is sound advice, no matter where it comes from.  If I consistently make undisciplined choices in the name of personal "freedom", I will eventually find myself more and more in dependency relationships where others have the upper hand over me and my choices will dwindle in degree and quality.  But practicing self-control and understanding the meaning of the word "enough" will engender both a sense of independence from the whims of other people and the ability to live out that true freedom.  I also believe that it is difficult to act in a sincerely loving, generous, merciful, and gracious way toward others while being in the throes of deep dependency that could have been avoided through better life choices.  Of course, we all exist in an interdependent world and I wouldn't want anyone to think I advocate complete independence...and having a personal relationship of dependency on God leads to those better choices, greater true freedom, and the social expression of our higher virtues...

2/25 Sermon on Philippians, Part 7

Our senior pastor at The Family Church here in Gainesville, Philip Griffin, continued his sermon series on the New Testament book of Philippians by beginning Chapter 3 and focusing on Verses 1-11, which you can read by clicking on Bible Gateway. The theme...and message title...was Joyful Confidence. The Biblical text featured Paul's opposition to those within the church who were insisting on physical circumcision on top of receiving Christ's salvation through his crucifixion and resurrection.  Paul insisted that what Jesus did was enough and had some pretty harsh words for those who maintained that it wasn't.  Pastor Philip took this reading to present some helpful ideas about the nature of confidence and how to truly attain and enjoy it...

In refuting those who erroneously were placing their confidence in the flesh, Paul listed several of his own "qualifications" for having confidence in salvation...and quickly dismissed them all as loss.  Pastor Philip listed areas where trust leads to false confidence: in religious rituals, in one's heritage, in one's titles and accomplishments, in one's sincerity, and in one's attempts at goodness.  As for heritage, Philip pointed out that God has no grandchildren, and where one's parents stood with God does not automatically pass down to their children. What leads instead to true, joyful confidence?  No surprise here, as Philip laid it out: it's all about Jesus: his presence in my life, his purity coming though faith, his power for living, his perspective on suffering,, and his promise in my death.  Wow, that's a lot to absorb, both on the positive and negative side.  Keeping my focus on God and not myself can go a very long way toward simplifying things, though...

The Family Church weekly sermons can be viewed through its YouTube video website...just click on the following link to watch the one I just discussed: [link]. I recommend you do so as Philip says so much that I simply cannot fit into the small space of a blog article...watching the message live at church is even better.  The weekly Sunday services there are at 9 and 10:30, and besides the message there is inspiring live praise and worship music along with prayer and discipleship opportunities.  This fellowship is located at 2022 SW 122nd Street, accessible via Newberry Road, SW 24th Avenue, or Archer Road.  A good way to start or end the week, depending on where you're coming from..

My February 2018 Running Report

This past month I ran for a total of 73 miles...not much...but I did manage to scrape through a difficult half-marathon on the 18th.  That event, Gainesville's Five Points of Life Half-Marathon, took place under extraordinarily warm and muggy conditions that burdened me throughout...besides, I wasn't in top condition for it.  I skipped running on 4 days, all in the week after the race...my 61-year old body now feels pretty well recovered from it all and I'm training again.  That 13.1-mile half-marathon also happened to be my single longest run of February...

During the last few days I have been splitting up my daily training into two parts: morning at home and late night at my local 24-hour gym after work.  So far this change seems to be working well for me...if I run in any races in March, I'd like to be in better shape!  Speaking of March races, that Run for Haven 10K race that has been held in March in Tioga (a few miles west of Gainesville) hasn't been canceled as I feared: it's being rescheduled to take place in the fall...I guess they won't be going with the theme of St. Patrick's Day anymore.  There's a 10K race called Trail of Payne that I had been meaning to run for many years but never got around to...the title is self-explanatory: a trail race in Payne's Prairie...should be an adventure if I decide to run it.  And why not, now that I'm now accustomed to running a 10K race every March...

Weekly Short Story: They Don't Make Life Like They Used To by Alfred Bester

Back in October I discussed a short story of Alfred Bester titled Time is the Traitor...click on the title link to read it.  He also wrote a remarkable tale in 1963, They Don't Make Life Like They Used To, which appeared in the anthology Isaac Asimov Presents the Great SF Stories 25 (1963) (DAW Books)...

From 1963's vantage point it is eighteen years into the future, way off there in 1981.  The location is Midtown Manhattan, more on the East Side and Central Park area...but that's where any sense of reality quickly departs.  A young woman lives there and has been convinced for the last five years...following the worldwide nuclear holocaust...that she is the only remaining human alive.  She makes use of all the stores around and always leaves IOU notes whenever she takes something.  In spite of her isolation she seems to have survival down to an art...that is, until one day she runs into a man.  The two of them, both likeable folks, engage in a lot of sidebar banter that reminded me of Bogart and Hepburn in the movie The African Queen and is equally endearing.  In the background they hear buildings collapsing from time to time, and the birds seems to be mimicking in their songs something harsh and metallic sounding.  What this means comes down on them in a terrifying ending...one that might cause nightmares for the squeamish...

When I was a little kid I always equated science fiction with "scary movies"...yet I rarely come across a short story or novel from this genre that inspires any degree of fright.  Not so with They Don't Make Life Like They Used To: it jolted me, to say the least.  Oh, one other thing about this and many other apocalyptic stories from this time: there is a tendency, when people are wandering around in isolation like in this tale of Alfred Bester or in that Twilight Zone episode when Burgess Meredith stumbles around the ruins of the big city, to never run across any of the myriad dead bodies that in a real apocalypse would be lying around all over the place. It's as if in dying in such a catastrophe, your body simply vanishes...well, in a direct nuclear hit, it just might...

I looked around the Internet and couldn't find any public domain access to this story...but if you have the chance to read it, by all means do so.  Unless, that is, you're prone to nightmares...
     

Tuesday's List: My Favorite Electric Light Orchestra Songs

Lately I have been listening to the thirteen studio albums (fourteen if you count the Xanadu soundtrack) of the great classical/rock fusion band Electric Light Orchestra.  Initially a creative collaboration of Roy Wood and Jeff Lynne out of Birmingham, England, Wood left following the first album and the music has pretty much been the work of Lynne ever since...along with the accompanying band that has tended to alternately swell and diminish in membership over the years.  Ever since I first heard Can't Get It Out of My Head in December 1974, I have followed their music...although their quality seemed to plummet a bit when they went "disco" in 1979.  My favorite album is A New World Record, which I played to death after I bought it late in 1976.  Jeff Lynne still has ELO as "his" band, goes on concert tours, and even recorded a short album in 2015.  Since it's one of my all-time favorite musical acts, I thought it was about time to compile a couple of lists, first of my overall top ten favorite Electric Light Orchestra songs and then an album-by-album listing of tracks I liked from each of them. Well, here goes...

1 LIVIN' THING..........................................A New World Record
2 CAN'T GET IT OUT OF MY HEAD.......Eldorado
3 SECRET MESSAGES..............................Secret Messages
4 TURN TO STONE....................................Out of the Blue
5 BOY BLUE...............................................Eldorado
6 MR. BLUE SKY.......................................Out of the Blue
7 TIGHTROPE.............................................A New World Record
8 DON'T BRING ME DOWN......................Discovery
9 ROLL OVER BEETHOVEN....................ELO 2
10 SO FINE...................................................A New World Record

And here are the songs I particularly liked from each album, listed of course in order of preference...

****No Answer (1972)****
QUEEN OF THE HOURS
LOOK AT ME NOW
10538 OVERTURE

****ELO 2 (1973)****
ROLL OVER BEETHOVEN
MOMMA

****On the Third Day (1973)****
SHOWDOWN
DAYBREAKER
OCEAN BREAKUP/KING OF THE UNIVERSE

****Eldorado (1974)****
CAN'T GET IT OUT OF MY HEAD
BOY BLUE

****Face the Music (1975)****
FIRE ON HIGH
STRANGE MAGIC
POKER
ONE SUMMER DREAM
EVIL WOMAN

****A New World Record (1976)****
LIVIN' THING
TIGHTROPE
SO FINE
DO YA
SHANGRILA
ROCKARIA!
MISSION (A WORLD RECORD)
ABOVE THE CLOUDS

****Out of the Blue (1977)****
TURN TO STONE
MR. BLUE SKY
BIRMINGHAM BLUES
STANDIN' IN THE RAIN
JUNGLE
NIGHT IN THE CITY
SWEET TALKIN' WOMAN
SUMMER AND LIGHTNING

****Discovery  (1979)****
DON'T BRING ME DOWN
SHINE A LITTLE LOVE
LAST TRAIN TO LONDON

****Xanadu Soundtrack (1980)****
XANADU (with Olivia Newton-John)
I'M ALIVE

****Time (1981)****
HANG ON TIGHT
ANOTHER HEART BREAKS
TWILIGHT
YOURS TRULY, 2095

****Secret Messages (1983)****
SECRET MESSAGES
BUILDINGS HAVE EYES
ROCK 'N ROLL IS KING
FOUR LITTLE DIAMONDS

****Balance of Power (1986)****
SECRET LIVES
SEND IT
SO SERIOUS

****Zoom (2001)****
STATE OF MIND

****Alone in the Universe (2015)****
AIN'T IT A DRAG
ONE STEP AT A TIME

About Robert Mueller's Investigation

I admit I don't know very much about the Robert Mueller investigation into the degree of how much Russia interfered with our 2016 presidential election and to what extent there may have been collusion on the part of any campaigns here, especially that of Donald Trump.  It does seem clear to me that Vladimir Putin wanted to avoid Hillary Clinton getting elected first and foremost...Donald Trump or Bernie Sanders would have been the preferred candidates for him.  Was Trump some kind of "Manchurian candidate" with secret, special obligations to the Russians?  I don't know.  Did he cooperate with Putin by enabling their propaganda machine to plant false news stories derogatory to Clinton?  I don't know, but Trump during the campaign was very vocal in promoting the WikiLeaks release of stolen emails from her campaign...something that has been tied to hackers working for the Russians.  Seeing how Mueller is keeping everything in his investigation close to the vest, it's hard to know exactly how much has been revealed and who all it is pointing to.  Yet the president keeps going on and on about how the inquiry into Russian meddling is all a big hoax...

I've tried to suspend any judgment of Trump and his campaign until substantial results from the investigation have been produced.  So far there are some indictments...they seem to be focusing on false statements and money laundering...and there are some guilty pleas, implying that these people are now cooperating with Mueller's probe.  Personally, I suspect that Donald Trump is involved with Russian election interference on some level, but that's just my unsubstantiated hunch...you're entitled to your own opinion about this.  I am hoping that Robert Mueller won't do what Kenneth Starr did during the Clinton administration in the 1990s when he was initially commissioned to look into any possible improprieties of the Clintons involving Whitewater...and then stuck around after that investigation was fruitless, trying to dig up anything to damage the president and finally hitting pay dirt with the Monica Lewinsky revelations on a completely different matter.  Trump was on the Clintons' side back then and obviously knows how independent special counsels can widely stray from the original missions they were assigned: to this extent I sympathize with Trump.  But then again, he has behaved in an arrogant, interfering, and obstructive manner with this investigation...I can't see how Nixon behaved much worse with Watergate in this regard.  The main difference is that during Watergate the opposition party controlled Congress: Trump has his own party in there, and they don't seem very enthusiastic about holding him an any way accountable for anything he might have done...

Until this Mueller investigation issues its final report...assuming the president doesn't fire him first...neither I nor others around me will really know what happened in 2016.  Those who have allowed themselves to become overly emotional about Donald Trump...both those who idolize and despise him...may have already formed their respective opinions about his connection to the Russians: just listen to their own narratives on this subject.  As for myself, I think the country would be better off if one of the houses of Congress...either the Senate or House of Representatives...were under Democratic control in order to better ensure to the public-at-large that the president's own party isn't complicit in obstructing the flow of the investigation...

Will Colleges on the FBI List Play in the NCAA Basketball Tournament?

I was watching college basketball on TV for much of yesterday.  I saw teams like Duke, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisville, and Vanderbilt play...the first four are thick in the running for NCAA tournament spots.  All are among the many schools that the FBI had been investigating for paying out money to out-recruit star players over other institutions and have been put on the list of those suspected of this cheating.  And then there's Arizona, whose coach had reportedly been wiretapped as offering $100,000 to obtain a freshman standout.  The question I have is what will the NCAA do about this information as we approach the time when the NCAA championship tournament will be seeded and begin?  Will they say they need more time and let the tournament go on, even if many of the teams are tainted by scandal?  Or will they quickly act and, according to the case-by-case severity of the charges, hand out appropriate punishments even if they involve banning certain schools from post-season play?  I suspect that the first option is the one they'll take: the NCAA loves to rewrite their own history and if some of these teams are found culpable enough, they will simply go back and take away their tournament victories...as if they never happened...

I was listening to sports talk radio yesterday and heard the argument that college basketball players should be paid anyway.  But by violating the current rules, the cheating schools are gaining an unfair advantage over those who are following them...and that is unacceptable.  If they want to change the rules later to allow for paid athletes, then fine...but for now they should be punished if this is a part of their strategy to beat out other colleges when they are recruiting for the top talent...

Just Finished Reading Intruder in the Dust by William Faulkner

I just finished reading William Faulkner's 1948 novel Intruder in the Dust.  It's a small town in Mississippi around that same time.  An elderly black man, Lucas Beauchamp, has been arrested for the murder of a white man...Lucas was discovered holding a smoking gun at the site of the killing.  He is in jail and there are fears of a lynching.  A white boy, Chick, who remembers (with resentment) how Lucas had once saved him from drowning in a creek after he had broken through the ice, wants to finally settle the score by saving him from this murder rap.  An elaborate plot ensues with Chick's uncle Gavin being hired by Lucas to legally represent him...and then Lucas hints to Chick that his gun wasn't the murder weapon.  But they'd have to go out in the country several miles in the dead of night to dig up the victim's body...Chick, a black teenager, and an elderly white woman make up the unlikely team for this adventure.  How does it all end? Will our heroes succeed or be thwarted along the way?  Or will the angry racist mob first lynch proud Lucas?  And what about Uncle Gavin, who possesses a fatalism about the racist attitudes in 1948 of too many Mississippi whites with regard to the blacks living among them...will he step out boldly and do what is right and just for Lucas Beauchamp?

In spite of the underlying racism depicted in Intruder in the Dust, it is also a pretty darn good mystery story...as well as containing many funny sections.  The dialogue reflected that used by the people back then, and as such would not withstand the scrutiny of the political correctness police of today's world as they self-righteously try to retroactively rewrite history.  In spite of this, the novel sounded a theme of hope and progress for the South and that whites and blacks could be eventually reconciled...without having that reconciliation imposed on them from the North.  This last hope didn't exactly turn out the way Faulkner wanted as the ensuing decades would show...

My biggest problem with this book was how the author would suddenly descend into long sections of intricate analysis that, to me, went way over the heads of its characters.  It was if there was an extra character in the story: the collective subconscious that defined this society, and it was making its own case as much as any of the individual people were.  I'm not sure that any writer other than one with the stature of William Faulkner could have gotten away with this technique: I'm sure I would have been laughed straight out of the editor's office had I used it.  Nevertheless, Intruder in the Dust is a good book that mixes well its characters, setting, mystery, and social commentary.  And no doubt it's waiting for you at your local public library!

Quote of the Week...from Dean Karnazes

Somewhere along the line we seem to have confused comfort with happiness.
                                                        ---Dean Karnazes

Dean Karnazes is one of the world's most renowned ultra-distance runners...a simple 26.2-mile marathon for him is just a warm-up to his kind of race, with 100 miles being a typical distance for him.  Well, not only don't I ever intend to run for 100 miles at a time, but I also doubt I'll be attempting a "simple" marathon anymore, either (I pulled off this feat a couple of times in 2011).  No, my kind of running has me trying to complete distances from the 10K (6.2 miles) to half-marathon (13.1 miles).  Last Sunday morning I somehow got through one of those half-marathons under very uncomfortably warm and humid conditions, and I'm happy I stuck it out and finished it.  But on a day-to-day basis, I have been allowing myself to yield to the desire for comfort over progress and haven't trained as well as I should...this doubtless contributed to my adversities during that race. Karnazes, informally called "Karno" by his friends, wasn't just narrowly referring to running with the above quote, though: it applies to just about anything we approach in our lives.  For me, it's important to discipline myself into daily routines which, while uncomfortable while performing them, together contribute to an overall happier existence.  It's important to always have personal goals to tackle, and tackling them should involve getting out of one's comfort zone.  If you're not growing, then you're stagnating or, worse, fading.  Not that rest and play aren't appropriate in their proper places...I have been working a lot of late on my job and plan to take the opportunity with this day off to rest...

Dean Karnazes' book Ultramarathon Man has been an inspiration to me for many years and helped me motivate myself to run long distances during the last eight years.  I feel that I'm at a place right now in which I need to decide what direction I want to take with this running activity.  My gut instinct says that a daily jog/run for about three miles through my neighborhood is a good goal (and definitely not comfortable), but those grueling longer distance races just might not be where I need to be going for the indefinite future.  Well, first some rest and then we'll see...

2/18 Sermon on Philippians, Part 6

I missed church this past Sunday morning as I was running in the local half-marathon then and soon afterwards had to go to work.  No problem, I watched the sermon later on The Family Church YouTube video website...here's a link to it: [link].  The message was a continuation of senior pastor Philip Griffin's series about the New Testament book of Philippians, focusing on Chapter 2 Verses 19-30...you can read it for yourself through the following link via Bible Gateway: [link]...

In Sunday's message, Pastor Philip presented three choices that believers need to make in order achieve joy and majority in their lives as they reflect the light of Christ on a dark world: choosing service over self, growth over comfort, and sacrifice over security.  What defines us: our hurts and hurdles or our acceptance by Christ?  The passage referred to Timothy as someone who had proved himself...the Greek work for "proved" can also be read as "refined", such as gold being refined to a pure state with the impurities taken out...in Timothy's case, through his service.  As for growth, Philip listed three truths: (1) growth happens when we make maturity, not comfort, our goal, (2) growth never happens overnight: time plus discipline equals growth, and (3) growth happens through mentoring...both by others and to others.  Discussing sacrifice, our pastor gave as an example the brave, heroic high school coach in Parkland last week who sacrificed his own life by putting his own body between students and the murderous gunman.  God wants us to be living sacrifices as well, putting Christ ahead of all things...

Pastor Philip concluded this message by saying that each and every believer needs three special relationships in their walk with Christ: a mentor to speak truth to them, a brother or sister alongside them in the faith, and someone...like how Timothy was to Paul...to mentor and for whom to be a source of wisdom, knowledge, and encouragement...

The Family Church meets each Sunday at 9 and 10:30 for its services, which include praise music, the weekly message, prayer and discipleship opportunities, lots of friendly folks, and a hospitality center with coffee and other assorted goodies.  It's located at 2022 SW 122nd Street...I'm planning on being there this Sunday...

Weekly Short Story: The Snowball Effect by Katherine MacLean

Why do some social and political movements snowball in their growth and effect over the population while others briefly sprout and then wither away?  Katherine MacLean, in her 1952 short story appropriately titled The Snowball Effect...from the anthology Isaac Asimov Presents The Great SF Stories 14 (1952)...examined this question, with some implications for our present age...

A newly-hired dean at a university is visiting a sociology professor, skeptical that his department merits the funding that it claims to deserve...after all, the college needs money from businesses and what practical use is sociology, anyway? In response to the dean's questioning, the professor proposes a project: to demonstrate his mathematically-constructed theory of the snowball effect on society, they will arbitrarily take a small women's sewing club tucked away in a small town and start a snowballing movement within it, using the professor's principles.  The dean agrees, very conscious of higher applications (and more money for the university) should the experiment bear fruit.  And does it ever bear fruit...

In our present age of instant social media messages and images multiplied any number of times across the country and the world, the concept of something snowballing has been replaced by another designation: going viral.  Look at the movements Black Lives Matter and Me Too in the last two or three years...and then look at how the Russians under their pseudo-president Putin were able to easily plant false news stories into social media to influence the 2016 presidential election against Clinton and in favor of Trump.  There is one element of today's world that tends to retard the full fruition of a snowball effect, keeping it from taking over the entire society: people nowadays tend to be attention-deficit, holding to whatever happens to be in vogue at the time and then suddenly disposing of it in favor of the next "big thing".  On the other hand, our media sources...while I acknowledge that some actually try to be objective...tend to favor a particular political orientation, inducing people of that same philosophy to tune in to reinforce their already held views instead of actually learning the facts and trying to see things from the other side's perspective...this trend I believe contributes to the snowball effect.  Now the question is: can all of this be set up mathematically to the point where someone with the inside knowledge of the snowball effect can, behind the scenes, anonymously manipulate the world to make it to their own liking?  Don't you get the feeling at times that this is precisely what is going on now?  I know of someone who has already expressed exactly this sentiment to me...

The Snowball Effect is now in public domain...you can read it online via Gutenberg through the following link: [link]...

Tuesday's List: 2018 Names for Atlantic Tropical Storms and Hurricanes

I know it's a little early in the year, but I might as well now list the names for the upcoming 2018  tropical storms and hurricanes that will either be dithering about aimlessly in the open Atlantic or hounding us and sending Weather Channel meteorologists scurrying about on various coastlines...unless they strike Mexico or Central America, in which case the media will mostly ignore them.  We all know how bad it was in 2017 with Harvey, Irma, and Maria strewing their mayhem across Texas, Louisiana, Florida, and the West Indies...the prediction is for a more active-than-usual season in 2018. But as much as I would like a welcome break from the tomfoolery going on in Washington with our national politics during this election year, I think I'll be very, very satisfied to see that kind of crap on television instead of around-the-clock coverage of the ongoing disastrous hurricane as I did last year (didn't I say something to that effect back then?)...

And here's the list, which incidentally is almost completely recycled from that of  2012.  I say "almost" because in that otherwise subdued hurricane season six years ago, Sandy caused a catastrophic level of damage in the Northeast, which caused the name to be retired...

ALBERTO
BERYL
CHRIS
DEBBY
ERNESTO
FLORENCE
GORDON
HELENE
ISAAC
JOYCE
KIRK
LESLIE
MICHAEL
NADINE
OSCAR
PATTY
RAFAEL
SARA
TONY
VALERIE
WILLIAM 

Just Finished Reading Watership Down by Richard Adams

For a long time I had heard of Watership Down, a 1972 children's story by Richard Adams about a group of rabbits in rural England looking for a homeland...but it wasn't until last week that I managed to check out a copy from my local public library. I also remember that they made it into an animated movie a few years later but never saw it, either.  Well, after just finishing the book, I was suitably impressed...

Wild rabbits are social creatures, forming societies called warrens.  The characters in Watership Down (a "down" is a hill...there is actually a place called Watership Down in Hampshire) speak a language called "lapine" and organize their society like humans.  Adams originally conceived of Watership Down as a story he told his two young daughters during a long trip.  After their prodding, he wrote it as a book and sought the input of an expert on rabbits as to how they behaved in the wild...the result was an interesting composite of rabbit and humanity.   Hazel and Fiver are two ordinary rabbits living in a warren when the latter, a small rabbit with the gift of intuition, one day suddenly implores the others to quickly leave the warren to avoid destruction.  The warren's leader rejects Fiver's plea, and he, along with Hazel and a few others, manage to escape from the other rabbits.  It is their quest for a new home and the adventures, new friends...as well as foes...that they experience along the way that comprise this compelling tale, along with their folklore exemplified by stories told about their mythical spiritual leader El-ahrairah...

There is a temptation, when reading Watership Down, to draw analogies from it with human society and history...I saw a couple: Britain and America with their traditions of freedom standing up to the militarist dictatorships in World War II, as well as a disparaging look at socialist societies.  But the author denied any attempt at analogy...he was simply telling a story.  And I believe him, although a good writer will often unconsciously reveal much of his or her beliefs through the characters and their behavior.  If you haven't yet read Watership Down, I urge you to do so.  On one level, it's a story for kids about rabbits.  But on another, the text is written in a language for more mature readers.  Makes me want to read some of Adams' other stories.  By the way, Richard Adams passed away very recently...in December 2016...at the age of 96...

Ran Gainesville's Five Points of Life Half-Marathon Earlier Today

This morning I got up very early to get ready for my fifth Five Points of Life Half-Marathon race here in Gainesville...and my fourth one out of the past five years.  Last year's run for me was a comedy of errors...I had misjudged the starting time and had to sprint a half mile just to get to the starting line in time...and I was hampered by problems with gagging.  Not this time around, on both accounts.  I prepared myself well and was ready to go at 7:00 when the race began.  However, the temperature during the race was 64-67 degrees, not necessarily a problem until you realize that the humidity was an oppressive 90-96 %...not a good combination at all.  I felt as if a blanket were on me the whole race, dragging me down and interfering with my performance.  Still, I got through it all and managed to substantially improve on last year's finishing time: my unofficial time was 2 hours 19 minutes 37 seconds, far slower than my best. But considering the conditions...the worst weather I ever ran a half-marathon in...I was very satisfied with the result.  Still I didn't at all enjoy the race while it was going on...it was a struggle for me not to just give up and walk away.  I would have much rather shivered uncomfortably before the race with colder weather than deal with this unseasonably warm and extremely muggy morning...

So now that I'm done with that, I can relax for a few days and recover from the experience.  By the way, the above photo I took near the start of the race...I'm running north on SW 34th Street and just topped the hill where that graffiti wall is: you can see a tiny section of it on the right...

Oh, I'd also like to mention what a great job the police did patrolling the streets we ran down and regulating the traffic so skillfully.  Also the many volunteers...especially those handing out water and Gatorade...were wonderful.  In spite of the adverse weather, I came away from the race with an overall positive feeling, and these good people had a lot to do with that...

Just Finished Rereading Final Two Books in Tad Williams' Otherland Series

Several years ago I went with my family to Walt Disney World near Orlando, specifically the Magic Kingdom.  One of the attractions there was a show called Carousel of Progress, which through their famous robotic doll/actors portrayed the advance of technology and living standards over the years...and a glimpse into the future.  That rosy future showed grandma sitting in the living room with the kids playing a virtual reality space video game...as she called out her increasing score the voice-sensitive oven in the kitchen kept heating up correspondingly, to a smoky ending...

The kind of virtual reality that causes its participants to react to what's going on in a manner that can be seen by outside observers is also exemplified by the commercial showing another VR video game player falling all over his furniture while getting caught up in the "action".  In Tad Williams' four-part science fiction Otherland series...for which I just finished rereading the final two books...you can't tell at all what's going on in virtual reality for their users (the story is set a hundred years into our future): the connection goes straight to their brains, bypassing their physical bodies.  I find this notion of such disconnectedness with the outside world more than a little problematic.  On the other hand, although I've not yet experienced virtual reality, I wonder whether it might be a bit hazardous should my own physical reactions to what's digitally going on, like with grandma or the stumbling young man, possibly result in damage or injury.  Well, I guess I'll never know until I try it out...

I liked Otherland, which is kind of like a "Jurassic Park" for virtual reality: there are many great wonders for the visitors, but they soon find that they are trapped in an artificial alternate reality that is ominously changing in a way that increasingly threatens their very existence.  My favorite book in the series was the first one, in which the novelty of the world of virtual reality is presented.  Too soon, though, I was getting tired of the characters traveling from one "world" to the next, each time having to get accustomed to each new setting with its rules and new characters.  There were several important mysteries that needed solving, and the author kept teasing me, the reader, with them until the very end of the final book...Sea of Silver Light...when one of the characters finally lays it all out for everyone to understand...

To Otherland's credit I do think that the characters in this series were memorable and thoughtfully crafted.  There's a lot of dialogue in here and you get to know each of them (and there are quite a few) very well...in a way that you might not know the "real" folks around you.  Ultimately, it was the novelty of the virtual reality experience at the beginning and then characters like Renie, !Xabbu, Long Joseph, Orlando, Fredericks, Olga, Mr. Sellars, Cristabel, Paul Jonas, "Dread", and Matrine...to name just some of the standouts...that sustained me through to the end.  I think there is a problem with all series in that they tend to be longer than necessary, with that final volume often loaded with explanations at the expense of action.  Otherland was like this, but I nevertheless highly recommend it as a peek into one of our many possible futures...

Here's a list of the Otherland books:

#1 City of Golden Shadow
#2 River of Blue Light
#3 Mountain of Black Glass
#4 Sea of Silver Light

Quote of the Week...from John Nash

The best result will come from everyone in the group doing what's best for themselves...AND the group.                                              ---John Nash.

One of my all-time favorite movies is A Beautiful Mind, directed by Ron Howard and starring Russell Crowe as the brilliant-but-troubled mathematician John Nash...it's a part of my DVD collection.  Although the cinematic version parallels the true life story of Nobel Prize winner Nash, Howard tended to sensationalize his mental illness (schizophrenia) in order to enhance the movie's visual effect and create more suspense.  The above quote is from the movie...I don't know whether the real John Nash ever spoke these words.  But I chose it because more and more I believe it has a nearly universal application in our lives...and especially when looking at those who seem disaffected and alienated within our society...

John Nash had just experienced a "eureka" moment when he suddenly understood the economic principle of duality, which is a refutation of Adam Smith's previously held tenet of "everyone out for themselves" being the optimal driving force for economic development.  But I believe there is a broader application of this duality sentiment, and it has a lot to do with how adjusted people can function around others.  If somebody has grown to feel that they belong nowhere and that the people in their lives care little about them, the notion can easily arise that they, likewise, are in no way accountable to others for their own outlook and behavior.  Alienation prevents the principle of duality...or as I call it, enlightened self-interest, from coming to fruition.  Instead, the isolated individual creates for himself a self-contained moral system that does not rely on anyone else...and consequently nothing he does to anyone else has any effect on his sense of guilt or conscience.  It's important for us as social creatures to feel a group connection...or as my pastor says, a sense of community.  Not having this connection, I have sadly noticed, seems to be a common characteristic of those involved in the too-many mass shootings we have been experiencing over the recent years...and the trend seems to be ominously accelerating...

Wednesday there was yet another school shooting massacre, this time at a high school in Parkland, Florida.  Almost instantly after the news first came out, the same old tired political talking point battle lines were being drawn with each side blaming the other.  I recognize that it's true that in many other countries with strict gun laws, the murder rate is much lower than here in the United States.  But I think that there may be another, possibly more important factor that inhibits this senseless violence: people in those other societies may be more closely-knit and inclusive than ours here in America, which can often be brutally cold about emphasizing individualism and independence as ideals.  When someone...especially when they are young...cannot find any sense of social orientation and already has a history of unchecked violent behavior, we're talking about a powder keg ready to go off.  Even the more reclusive of us can and should feel a sense of belonging to their community...but that community has a responsibility of outreach as well...and those on the social margins tend to be shunned, further aggravating matters.  In the meantime, we'd damned well better be willing to invest in providing better protection for our children in their schools...whatever it takes!

2/11 Sermon on Philippians, Part 5

Last Sunday at The Family Church here in Gainesville, our senior pastor, Philip Griffin, continued his series about the book of Philippians with its fifth installment, titled Joy in Salvation. The Bible passage of focus was Chapter 2, Verses 12-18, which you can read through the following link to Bible Gateway: [link].  Contained within it is the admonition that Paul, its author, gives believers to work out their salvation with fear and trembling...something that is problematic with some readers.  But Pastor Philip pointed out that "working out" carries the meaning of "bringing out", as if from a mine: see this as an exhortation to bring out the gold God has already given us...

How does one find joy in salvation? Pastor Philip listed five facets: come under God's authority, rely on God's power, trust in God's plan, reflect God's light, and count on God's joy.  As for his authority, Bob Dylan once wrote "gotta serve somebody"...we will make something our authority regardless...choosing God builds a foundation that will never be washed away in storms.  Philip reiterated that we are powerless in of ourselves to even obey God...we must rely on his power to empower us.  Focusing on God to get us through difficult circumstances instead of grumbling about them will give us joy.  As our pastor continued, living with fellow believers united in Christ will be reflected to the world and to his glory instead of conforming ourselves to a warped and crooked generation.  And finally, God's joy will persevere with us through hard times if we stick with him (and remember to rely on him and not our own strength)...

It's all too easy for me to allow myself to be tripped up over the course of my day as little annoyances and setbacks present themselves as obstacles.  Seeing the bigger picture and God's role in my life forces me to step back and put things in perspective.  Pastor Philip's message was a timely one for this often hectic period in my life...

You can watch this message of Philip's on the church's YouTube video website...here's a link to it: [link]...The Family Church, at 2022 SW 122nd Street, holds its Sunday morning services at 9:30 and 11.  Along with the weekly message are praise and worship music, fellowship, and opportunities for prayer and discipleship.  The series continues next Sunday...

Weekly Short Story: Hunting Machine by Carol Emshwiller

A while back I used to be strongly anti-hunting, but over the years as I discussed the activity with different friends who were enthusiasts, I came to respect their viewpoints without feeling the remotest desire to engage in it myself. When I first read Carol Emshiller's 1957 short, short story titled Hunting Machine...which appeared in the anthology Isaac Asimov Presents The Great SF Stories 19 (1957) (DAW Books) more than 25 years ago, I saw it only in terms of condemning the sport.  Now upon rereading it, I see a much broader application to what I believe the author was trying to express...

Joe and Ruthie McAlister are city folks a little to the future of our time.  They're out in the country, determined to have a hunting adventure...but how much of an adventure can it really be with an advanced robotic hunting dog that far surpasses the sensory capabilities of the animals it is pursuing.  And the couple's guns are nearly self-operating, presupposing little to no skill on the part of their users.  They have taken the conveniences of home with them and are letting "Rover" find and chase down their final target: a 1,500 lb. bear.  As this short story approaches its ending, the author describes in gory, graphic detail what happens when they catch up with the bear...and then the reactions of Joe and Ruthie to it all afterwards...

Whether it's fishing or bicycling or bowling...or hunting, or any other activity, it seems that many of those engaging in them are being pressured to buy high-tech equipment to enhance their conquests or scores...doesn't that kind of defeat the whole point of "sport"?  I used to ride a bicycle around town...I made the 16-mile round trip to and from work on bikes that I picked up from Wal-Mart or Target for less than a hundred bucks...nothing special.  One morning I was riding home...almost there...from my graveyard shift when I stopped at a red light and three other bicyclists pulled up beside me.  Two were grown men and one was a teenage girl...they were all dressed up like bicycle club members and their bicycles looked like they'd invested an enormous amount of money to get them.  The girl looked over at me and derisively sneered, "Nice bike".  I answered, "Have a nice day" as the light changed and the three went off ahead of me, all most assuredly very self-satisfied with their bicycling superiority.  I thought that if this arrogant pride (or is it insecurity?) is what motivates people to spend so much money to enhance their activities and make them look better to others, then I want no part in it.  Joe and Ruthie McAlister seemed to have similar motivations in Carol Emshiller's brutal, eye-opening tale...