Now we know: the earth doesn’t move.

Posted on February 18, 2015 by The Old Wolf

Take that headline with about a metric ton of salt.

Once upon a time, Islamic scholars made significant contributions to science, mathematics (algebra is an Arabic word), philosophy, medicine, and other fields.

Today? I’ll let you judge for yourself. Saudi preacher Bandar Al-Khaybari demonstrates that the earth does not revolve around itself, using deeply flawed logic, the absence of scientific understanding, and the Qur’an. Oh, and astronauts never landed on the moon, either.

http://youtu.be/-9Jp_XCvVto

If you don’t want to take the time to watch the video, here’s the transcript:

Someone is asking whether the Earth moves or whether it is fixed in place. Does it move or remain fixed? The Truth, as described by our scholars Imam Ibn Baz and Sheik Saleh Al-Fawzan, is that the Earth is fixed and does not move. This is in keeping with the Quranic text, and it makes sense as well. […]

There is ample Quranic evidence that it is the sun that revolves around the Earth. As for evidence based on reason… The (Westerners) present all kinds of theories, but we Muslims also have theories and brains.

First, let’s say that we go from here to Sharjah Airport and take a plane to China. Are you with me? Concentrate now. Let’s say that this is the Earth, and let’s assume that it is turning… If we take an international flight from Sharjah to China… You say that the Earth is turning, right? If the plane stopped in mid-air, wouldn’t China come to it? Am I right or not? If the Earth really does turn – China should come to the plane. Now, let’s assume that the Earth revolves the other way – the plane will never catch up with China no matter how long it flies. Since China is also revolving, you will never get there. Secondly, Allah talked about the (celestial) house frequented (by angels). This house is located in the seventh heaven. The Prophet Muhammad said that if it fell from the sky, it would fall on the Kaaba. But if the Earth revolves, it would not fall on the Kaaba. It would fall in the ocean or somewhere on dry land. This proves that the Earth is fixed in place. […]

The (Americans) say that they landed on the moon, but they never set foot or laid their eyes on it. They produced it all in Hollywood or I don’t know where. They said that they had gone to the moon and we just took their word for it.

Now, please don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that Muslims in general are stupid or scientifically ignorant, or that nothing good comes out of the middle east. But what we have here is the equivalent of letting Mike Huckabee or Pat Robertson teach K-12 science. This guy wears the robes of authority, he gets on television, he spouts this phenomenally ignorant nonsense, and millions of people believe him. This is not good for humanity.

To give equal time to another brand of fanaticism, I refer you to the Creation Museum in Petersburg, Kentucky, a $27 million facility devoted to the concept of an earth that’s younger than 10,000 years old, and which contradicts science at every turn.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – science and faith don’t mix. I’m not against faith; I have a spiritual walk of my own. But I keep those beliefs separate and apart from the empirical evidence of the universe around me. We get in trouble when we try to make observable facts conform to religious belief, or vice-versa. You can’t shove one into the other’s box.

For myself, I liken our perception and knowledge of the universe around us to an Ames room:

In this common illusion, two people who change places in a room appear to change size drastically. Looking at them through a peephole destroys our sense of depth perception and allows the illusion to work:

The room is actually severely distorted.

For all we know from empirical observation about our environment – and we have learned a lot – I’m entirely convinced that we know next to nothing, and that we’re looking at our universe through a peephole. Were we to be able to see the “big picture,” a lot more things would make sense.

In the meantime, denying scientific reality makes a body look like a gibbering loon. Don’t do it. As for me, I do my best to live a good and productive life according to principles which I hold sacred and which inform my life, and gaze in wonder at the awesomeness and complexity of the world around me.

The Old Wolf has spoken.

Music lost, music found

Posted on February 16, 2015 by The Old Wolf

In the early 1970s I spent a year or so in Naples, Italy. While there I acquired a lot of lovely Italian LPs, but I had also brought some music with me from home to play on my portable cassette player. I would listen to these albums endlessly, and they became inextricably associated with my time there.

But time moved on, I moved back to the states, and over the years the two cassettes either wore out or were lost, and ultimately they faded from memory, leaving only an echo. Every now and then I would hear one of the pieces on the radio, but never had enough musical skill to identify them; it took me decades to locate all the pieces I had become so fond of, but finally the list came together and I could find the old track listings and identify the albums, with the additional bit of help that I recalled the albums were released by RCA.

I can no longer find images of the cassettes themselves, but the same albums were released either on LP or 8-track:

Thanks to the miracle of music streaming websites like Pandora and Grooveshark, I was finally able to re-assemble the albums in virtual format, and once again listen to these compilations; music being a powerful memory elicitor, these glorious pieces transport me back to the Naples of the early 70s.

The playlist:

Smetana – The Bartered Bride

Overture
Polka
Furiant

Liszt – Hungarian Rhapsody No. 1
Liszt – Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2
Dvorak – Scherzo Capriccioso, Op. 66

Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 6, “Pathétique”

The more time goes on, the more the Internet manages to capture and archive. While Google Books and Newspapers have been more or less given up on as projects, private enterprises are stepping in to pick up the slack; it is to be hoped that a compromise can be worked out between the exigencies of copyright and the importance of digital archival.

The Old Wolf has spoken.

Dorothea Lange – 1939, Motherless family in Yakima Valley

Posted on February 15, 2015 by The Old Wolf

Saw this photo over at reddit and it really pulled at my heartstrings.

The oldest of the children in this photo by Dorothea Lange takes care of the others in her migrant family, most likely while the father is working in the fields. She is stunningly beautiful, but carries a heavy and unwanted load on her young shoulders.

Another image of the middle child, wearing a sack dress.

“Youngest little girl of motherless family.” Toppenish in the Yakima Valley of Washington State. August 1939. Photograph by Dorothea Lange. Seen at Shorpy.

Poverty of this nature still exists in our country, let alone the rest of the world, but these images are a stark reminder of a very difficult time for our nation.

The Old Wolf has spoken.

In memory of Radio Shack

Posted on February 14, 2015 by The Old Wolf

Last week Radio Shack filed for bankruptcy, and the world I know will never be the same. HuffPo has a good read on why the company couldn’t survive in it’s current incarnation, and it may not be gone forever, but it won’t look the way it did in its heyday.

It used to be that you’d go down to the radio store for something like this:

And you’d encounter salespeople like this (Dilbert, from 1989):

RadioShack was once the playground of the inventor, the maker and the tinkerer. In the ’70s, Steve Wozniak—Apple’s co-founder—built a device to hack long-distance phone calling out of parts he bought at RadioShack. It was where amateur electronic engineers could pick up computer chips and build their own computers. (Quartz)

Tandy tried all sorts of things to expand its market share, things like Computer City (which lost $60 million for Tandy in 1996) and Incredible Universe, which lost $90 million; we had one of the latter in Utah before it closed in mid-1997.

Incredible Universe tried to be the big splash in electronics; according to Wikipedia,

A typical Incredible Universe was 185,000 square feet (17,200 m²) of sales floor and warehouse, stocking around 85,000 items.

The operation was conceived by former TandyCEOJohn Roach. Many internal corporate philosophies of Disneytheme parks were borrowed; in an Incredible Universe store, retail departments were ‘scenes,’ employees were ‘castmembers,’ uniforms were ‘costumes,’ and so forth.

The stores featured a large rotunda area with an actual stage where sales presentations, product demonstrations, or even occasional musical acts were performed, and various retail departments (software, music and video, and accessories) were accessible from this rotunda. Moving through the rotunda area would lead one to the main storefront where larger consumer electronics and computers were sold.

It included entertainment areas for kids, and a built-in McDonald’s; the sales staff all wore purple shirts and called themselves “grapes.” Below is a commercial for the enterprise, sadly potato quality but at least it gives you the idea:

http://youtu.be/2cfClmbIpzU

Here’s the Utah press release:

At a press conference held today in Sandy, Tandy Chairman and Chief Executive Officer John V. Roach and Sandy City Mayor Tom Dolan unveiled plans for the opening of the giant consumer electronics gigastore this fall at the corner of Interstate 15 and 110th Street. “Incredible Universe is an electronics and home appliance store unlike any other in the world. We have created the hottest new shopping concept in America today by combining incredible fun, an incredible selection and incredible first-class service that caters to the entire family,” said Roach.

With sales estimated at $80 million per year, Incredible Universe will provide a local economic boost by adding substantially to the area’s tax base and by creating more than 350 new jobs.

Incredible Universe is so unique that it is often referred to as the “show.” Unlike many stores, guests (or customers) are encouraged to play with the merchandise — more than 85,000 products under one roof.

Guests can also create their own music videos at the sing-along Karaoke studio to test their skills at Virtual Reality and other computerized games. Community groups are invited to perform in the store’s Rotunda, and local celebrities make special appearances.

While adults shop, small children can entertain themselves with electronic toys and games in a supervised children’s play area called KidzView. Or, the entire family can take a break from shopping at the McDonald’s restaurant located inside.

Leading-edge guests can visit three state-of-the-art Multimedia Rooms to experience the combination of personal computers, full motion video, and home theater in a home setting; video teleconferencing in an office or Board Room setting; and DSS (Digital Satellite System), the latest in home satellite technology.

The newest creation in the Universe is a multimedia “library” with more than 2,500 different CD-ROM software titles. Other features of the store include a Home Theater, a computer-equipped Kitchen Design Center, and a giant-screen video display.

The 85,000-plus products available at Incredible Universe include 342 different televisions, 72 video cassette recorders, 60 camcorders, 181 refrigerators, 83 washers and dryers, 575 home and personal audio products, 300 car stereo/mobile products, 48 personal computers, and more than 70,000 music and movie titles.

Incredible Universe gigastores are open in the metropolitan markets of Phoenix, Portland, Seattle, Sacramento, Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Columbus, Dallas, and Arlington, Texas. In addition to the Salt Lake City market, other new locations planned for 1995 include the Denver, New York Metro, Indianapolis, Houston, and greater Washington, D.C., markets. Corporate headquarters are located in Fort Worth, Texas.

The concept was launched just as stores like Circuit City and Best Buy were rising in popularity, and ultimately the huge mega-stores couldn’t compete. Buildings were so large they found no buyers, and Tandy had to sell them for pennies on the dollar. Six of the 15 stores were acquired by Frye’s, and one in Texas became a community college building.

I was a longtime Radio Shack customer and watched the evolution with interest. There were times I asked myself how long the enterprise could survive, given what I saw happening to the offerings and the staff.

Radio Shack’s batteries were the cheap ones from China, but when you have three kids and a gazillion electronic toys, free batteries were always welcome. At one point we sprang for a bunch of rechargables and a charger, which probably saved a few quatloos in the long run.

Robie still sits on my dresser, eating quarters with gusto.

This is, effectively, a 3-band hearing aid. We inherited this one from someone else, but it works like a champ.

One of the most useful devices I’ve ever had around the house. I wish it did the little mercury ones (I have a voltmeter for that) but this still works.

Pocket “Simon.” Finally sold this one on eBay along with some other puzzles, but part of me wishes I had kept it just for the nostalgia value. But I’m sure my buyer is enjoying it.

There were countless other toys and gimmicks, as well as a pretty respectable combination turntable, dual cassette deck, CD player, and AM/FM stereo set we had for about 30 years; I just barely finished ripping my LP’s to digital format with it before it finally gave up the ghost.

Christmas time at Radio Shack was great in the 80s; there were countless fun gimmicks and toys, RC cars and trucks, and lots of things that kids would enjoy. As time went on, though, the offerings of this nature became slimmer and slimmer; cell phones became the dominant push, and everything else was secondary. According to the HuffPo article I referenced above,

RadioShack lost sight of who they were. Technology changed rapidly, but their gadgets did not, and many of them were rendered obsolete as smartphones came into the picture with apps that easily replaced them. They didn’t focus on the right things, and that led to fruitless attempts to become relevant once again.

Whether the company will survive in some form or other, or be acquired, or simply fade into oblivion, remains to be seen. For me, the most poignant image was not even real, but cleverly photoshopped – but it expressed in a single picture what I have been feeling over the last couple of weeks, as I digested the news of an old friend’s passing:

The Old Wolf has spoken.

More Folly from Benin

Posted on February 12, 2015 by The Old Wolf

Another scam email from Benin, supposedly from the “IRS.” The English is horrible, the format is crude, and the criminals are getting more desperate. They used to ask for thousands of dollars as up-front fees, now they’re down to almost begging for pennies. But don’t be fooled – there are no funds, and anyone who bites is at risk to lose their entire life savings if they are gullible enough.

Subject: U.S Internal Revenue Service Department Internal Revenue Service

United States Department of the Treasury

From: “Dr.GRAHAM HONNSE” <drgrahamhonnse@gmail.com>

To: undisclosed-recipients:;

U.S Internal Revenue Service Department
Internal Revenue Service United States Department of the Treasury
Accessibility Skip to Top Navigation
2283 3rd Ave New York, NY 10035, United States

Greeting from IRS USA

We the Internal Revenue Service, believed that you received the previous message we sent to you, prior to your dealings with the U.S Custom Authority at (JFK) John F. Kennedy International Airport New York as regards to your over-due contract payment consignment trunk box worth $10,500.000.00 (Ten Million Five Hundred Thousand United States Dollars only), which was endorsed in your favor and like we stated earlier, we have dully screened through this project as stipulated on our protocols of operation and have finally confirmed that your contract payment is 100% genuine and hitch free from all face and of which you have the lawful right to claim your fund without any further delay.

This is to bring to your notice that we have just been informed through secret source that the U.S Custom Authority at (JFK) John F. Kennedy International Airport New York are making arrangement to have your contract fund wired into the Bank account of Mrs. Jane Frederick, the lady that contacted them, earlier and presented some documentations evidencing your claim purported to have been signed personally by you for the release of your contract fund to her, since you have chose to ignore their messages and refuse to pay the required $155.00 for Custom Clearance Certificate C.C.C. charges as imposed, despite the advise we gave to you.

I want to personally assure you once again that you will have every course to smile and be happy upon conclusion of this project, as we will continue monitoring all your services with them at all level as well as your correspondence, until you have received your Metal Trunk Box accordingly, we are here to protect your interest and that is the reason why we are doing all we can to make sure all goes well. This is a huge amount of money which we don’t wish for you to lose.

We understand that the imposed fee might be too much for you to pay so to further make things easier for you, we have discussed with the U.S Custom Authority at (JFK) John F. Kennedy International Airport New York pleaded on your behalf for them to give you the grace of sending half of the charges which will be only $77.50.00 Us Dollar for now after which the Diplomatic Agent deliver your consignment trunk box to you then once you receive your fund, you can then pay the remaining balance of the fee.

All we want you to do right now is to send the half payment of the money with the name listed below so we can forward it to Benin Republic Customs authority to help us obtain the Custom Clearance Certificate C.C.C. and the diplomat will make the delivery to your home address tomorrow morning.

Description of Your Consignment box to be delivered:

Type:……CONSIGNMENT TRUNK BOX
Size:…../ 2:1 CM.
Weight:…5.6KG.
Color:…..BLACK BOX
Registration NO: #98952457
Serial #5267843156
Pin number…*****

Contact us right away and let me know when you will send half of the charges as we discussed with them to enable them route your fund to you with immediate effect. This is a life time opportunity and we will advise you to take advantage of it, before it will become too late for consideration.

Receiver’s Data/information to send the fee through Western Union or Money Gram directly to the officer Incharge in Benin Republic.

Receiver’s Name:::::::::::: Julius Chukuwma

City::::::::::::::::::::::: Cotonou
COUNTRY:::::::::::::::::::: Benin Repulic
Text Question:::::::::::::: GOD
Text Answer:::::::::::::::: BLESS
Amount::::::::::::::::::::: $77.50. 00
Sender’s Name::::::::::::::
Sender’s Address:::::::::::

MTCN#::::::::::::::::::::::

Also be informed that we came to an agreement with the U.S Custom Authority at (JFK) John F. Kennedy International Airport New York that you will be sending half of the fee, latest before the end of tomorrow so please we will advise that you send the fee right away because if you fail to do that, then they will have no other choice than to release your fund to Mrs. Jane Frederick who is ready to work with them, and am sure it will be a very great loss to you as we will not be able to help you then, hence your fund will be lost forever.

This is an official notification and we advise you treat it with utmost urgency, in your best interest.

Happy New Year and God bless you!!!

Yours Sincerely,
IRS Commissioner,
Dr. Graham Johnson Honnse

I post these mostly against the eventuality that someone who really doesn’t know what African scam letters are about might search the web for information about the “opportunity.”

Keep in mind that for these scams to succeed, the hope of riches must suppress any sense of morality the intended victim might have.

There is no money waiting for you in Africa.
Never send money to a stranger via Western Union or Money Card.
Ignore all such emails.

Be careful out there.

The Old Wolf has spoken.

Then: Nigeria. Now: Benin

Posted on February 10, 2015 by The Old Wolf

Not much Nigerian scam mail these days, most of it seems to come from Benin (or else the lads from Lagos are just using this as a smoke screen.

Just got this one:

Subject: THE TOTAL FUND WE ARE GOING TO TRANSFER TO YOU IS $1.500 M.USD

From: Western Union <wudept5@gmail.com>

To: undisclosed-recipients:;

Attention; Fund Beneficiary;

Information reaching us from our Western Union Corporate Headquarters

now, States that you only have 48hours to effect payment for the

activation of your payment of $1.500 m.USD to enable you cash up your

total (fund) since you are finding it difficult to believe and now i

want to assure you that this is real for you to receive the total

payment immediately, We have decided that you are to go ahead and pay

$55.00 for the activation fee since you are not able to come up with

the total required sum of $155.00. Time is of the essence here. You

are to pay $55.00 as activation fee; we will activate your fund upon

receipt of this payment to enable you receive your first payment of

$5,000:00 USD from any Western Union center around you today. Be

informed that you will have to pay the balance sum of your activation

upon cashing up of your first payment.

Also i am using this medium to inform you that failure to pay the

balance sum will leave us with no option but to deactivate your fund

of which you will and can never cash up your total sum again i want

you to use Western Union to send $55.00 for the activation fee with

the information Bellow.

Receiver name: SAM NWA

Receiver city: COTONOU.

Receiver country: BENIN REPUBLIC.

Country code: 229.

Text question: LOVE?

Text answer:GOD..

Amount: $55.00.

(M.T.C.N) Money Transfer Control Number ::::::::

Sender’s name ::::::::

Send us the MTCN number, Sender Address, immediately you send the

money and immediately we confirm the activation fee, we will transfer

you the fund today and not tomorrow. Regards my direct phone line is

+229 99935738 MR FRED UBA. For your payment, Email me On the Email

Address{wudept5@gmail.com } I promise you as soon as we hear from you

with the payment of $55.00 we told you to send today, we shall send

your first payment of $5,000.00 for you to pick up with the

information you need to receive your payment the same day you send the

payment of $55.00 and I swear you will receive your payment

immediately we confirm this payment from you today.

EMAIL ME WITH THE MTCN NUMBER OR CALL ME OK I AM WAITING.

MR FRED UBA

Head Office Operations Manager..

Western Union Office Department

Telephone number:+229 99935738

Email Address{ wudept5@gmail.com }

Same music, just a different orchestra. These guys only want $55.00 (to start); you can bet your life that if any sucker bites, there will be endless requests for additional funds, as much as they can milk out of their victim.

And of course, there are no millions waiting. Be careful out there.

The Old Wolf has spoken.

Sometimes the Universe smiles, and sometimes it doesn’t

Posted on February 10, 2015 by The Old Wolf

Karma. Everyone wants good Karma.

Over at reddit, it’s measured in orangered or periwinkle (props to the author of this gif, whoever you are):

In other locations, one doesn’t accrue upvotes and downvotes, but there is still a certain intangible karma that people collect for creating / sharing “cool” images, so we often see things like this:

or this:

The two images above are almost certainly photoshopped, and I’ve seen them in my inbox more times than I can count. Not that they’re not really cute, but on occasion nature can one-up the photoshoppers.

AP Photo

In December of 2008, a beautiful conjunction of Venus, Jupiter, and a crescent moon created a lovely “smile” in the night sky, although depending on where you were in the world, it probably didn’t appear straight-up like this.

More recently, however, the Hubble telescope captured a lovely smiley face created by gravitational lensing:

You can read the science behind the capture at spacetelescope.org.

The Old Wolf has spoken.

Free software, and some memories.

Posted on February 10, 2015 by The Old Wolf

The above image (click it to enlarge) was created by AndreaMosaic, a free software program that allows one to create the kind of photomosaics invented by Robert Silvers. I’m not sure what the legal ramifications of all this is, but I love the result.

This was the original picture I used to create the mosaic:

This painting is one of two created for the Warner Brothers show “Cheyenne;” the episode was “Road to Three Graves.”

Dad died well. He had lots of practice during his career.

Both painted on rice paper and in a balsa wood frame, one was crashed into during the filming; the other survived in his possession and it came to me when he passed on. Joe was a long-time visitor of the Eldred Center in Provo, Utah, where he had many friends; after his death, I donated the picture to the center where it hung by the office. I once took my wife there and showed it to her, because I was quite pleased they remembered him with such fondness.

In a sweet and romantic gesture, she later arranged to go back to the center and re-purchase it for me as a gift, a deed which brought tears to my eyes; it now hangs over our mantel during the month of June, representative of both Father’s Day and our shared birthday. A couple of years ago the old Eldred Center was demolished and moved to a new recreation center; heaven only knows what would have happened to the portrait had my beloved not rescued it. Perhaps it would have gone to the new location, perhaps not. In 2013, close to 25 years would have passed since Joe’s death, and few seniors of today would remember him; whatever the case, I am most grateful to have this treasured painting back in my possession,

The mosaic, by the way, is composed of multiple images from my father’s career, as well as his sculptures.

The Old Wolf has spoken.

Playing in the World Game

As One

Monthly Archives: February 2015

Now we know: the earth doesn’t move.

Music lost, music found

In memory of Radio Shack

More Folly from Benin

Then: Nigeria. Now: Benin

Sometimes the Universe smiles, and sometimes it doesn’t

Free software, and some memories.