1) Not sure I feel about the Trayvon Martin case. I think Zimmerman probably handled the situation very poorly and may be culpible. It sounds like the Police department may have done the same. I think the smear campaign against Martin for his school suspension is absurd. In the end clear facts and a trial (if warranted) is needed, not a fire stoked by the media, Black Panther’s calling for Zimmerman’s “capture” and other insane responses. I just saw something about a call to ban deadly force in defensive situations, INCLUDING in your own home. Really people?

2) I don’t know if this is a natural “back in my day” facet of aging or not but I increasingly have less faith in those younger than I am to be smart and competent in the handling of their lives. I would have thought that because of the internet our world would become less divided, not moreso.

3) I find litter in my yard all the time. I know the wind is responsible for blowing a lot of it there. If I ever catch someone littering on my street I’ll be simultaneously pissed and just sad for humanity. Really people?

4) I’ve been happy to see our neighbor across the street playing with their dog more. It’s a gorgeous German Shepherd that deserves more than being tied up in the back yard.

5) Tovah was right about the rug. I’m sure she’ll share soon enough.

Of course I’ll become free of the Navy this year!

2012 and in particular December 21st are significant if you’re looking forward to everything from the end of the world with the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar or perhaps the timewave zero phenomenon. Society is rapidly changing and this year will be no different. Come on technological singularity!

Of course I’m also nervous to watch how Iraq unfolds now that we have withdrawn. For the record, I expect Iraq to crumble and dissolve into civil war. And last, but not least, we have the transition of power in North Korea and Iran rattling its sabre even more. Regarding North Korea, I’d like to share some funny/interesting images:

2) While I loved UFC 132 I was bummed to see Wanderlei Silva get knocked out so quickly against Chris Leben. I’ve been a fan Wanderlei since early 2003 and it’s tough to watch your heroes get old in the fight game.

Speaking of fighting, this unofficial promo for UFC 134 Rio is excellent. Many prominent figures in MMA have been Brazilian: Royce Gracie, Marco Huas, Wanderlei Silva, Shogun Rua, Junior Dos Santos, Vitor Belfort, The Nogueria brothers and more. UFC 134 is a return to where it started and this promo captures that beautifully:

3) The 4th of July: Tovah wanted to head down to the water front to watch the fire works the night of the 4th but I wasn’t really into it but because wanted to go I took her and I sure am glad I did. I’ve seen fireworks shows before but they’re always a singular focus. Entertaining enough, but I didn’t need to see another. What made last night so unexpectedly awesome was where we went on Puget sound we could see fireworks from West and East Bremerton, Gorst, Port Orchard and other coastal areas. The entire horizon was a fireworks show which was exceptionally unique and enjoyable.

4) I hauled Colby and Brandon down to Rain City CrossFit for a July 4th morning WOD and had a ton of fun. They both got hooked on the energy of working out in the communal CrossFit gym environment. It’s funny, both guys are really fit and in any single modality would trounce me in the gym but when you combine it all into a whole body CrossFit WOD (admittedly, one that plays to my best strengths) I was able to finish ahead of them. Not for long though, once those guys spend a month at a CrossFit gym they’ll be monsters. Colby is so genetically gifted he has the potential to be a games competitor. Brandon is on his heels though. Heck, Brandon got a muscle up on his first ever day at a CrossFit gym! Anyway, after the WOD we took a group photo:

Tovah and I both teased Colby and Brandon for standing by themselves

It’s somewhat hard for me to address this issue because I have to be careful with what I can say. You see, yesterday I was called to a think tank session about how to provide guidance to 7th fleet in Japan and today my office started manning a watch at a Emergency Control Center. The line of public knowledge and classified material is often blurry with how penetrative news agencies are. This has also meant I’ve been a lot busier at work but it is also exciting to contribute.

So before I go any further please let me direct you to Brave New Climate. His coverage of Japan has been the most intelligent I’ve seen. While I would say I’ve seen a slight (VERY slight) improvement in intelligent writing from mainstream news (CNN, Fox, etc) I still see a lot of completely unnecessary fear mongering and apocalyptic imagery. For example:

High temperatures inside the building that houses the plant’s No. 4 reactor may have caused fuel rods sitting in a pool to ignite or explode, the plant’s owner said. -CNN

The problem with that quote is the addition of “or explode” because that language is inserted for sensationalism and nothing else, a tactic which pisses me off. Fear sells. Hell, I wish I’d thought of buying and reselling potassium iodide pills. They’re sold out all over California which I find amusing because those are probably the same Californians which will bake themselves at the beach or in a tanning salon. Anyone who finds a way to profit off of stupidity and fear will profit well.

So, regarding Fukushima Daiichi: yes, the situation is bad but it isn’t the end of the world either. Every minute which passes means things are a little better. When the quake hit the reactors were SCRAMed and shutdown. At that point they went to approximately 10% of the heat generation they had previously been at. That heat is known as decay heat and it in turn lessens substantially over time. As a fraction of maximum reactor power they are probably at 0.001% power by now. That small percentage is sufficient enough to still cause fuel element damage. The media will conveniently call any damage a meltdown. Core damage is very bad from the perspective that any damage can yield a core inoperable but it doesn’t necessitate the end of times. How bad the core damage is will be determined in time.

Note that all of their backup systems worked as designed. Diesels started (and died when the tsunami hit) and the battery backup performed as designed. Also note that the Richter scale is exponential. So while the plant was designed to withstand a 8.2 quake a 8.9/9.0 quake isn’t simply 0.7 units more earthquakey, it’s about seventy times more severe. I once read that humankind’s general inability to appreciate exponential functions is one of our great failures — so pay attention in math class next time!!!!

Regarding exponents, also realize that the contamination released from the fires/explosions (the contamination then emits radiation) decays exponentially. Here’s an equation: Cf = Ci x e^(t/t1/2). That equation says that the final concentration will be equal to the initial multiplied by the number e to the time divided by that isotope’s half-life. Granted, some radioactive isotopes have half-lives which mean they’ll be around for a very long time, but most fission product gases and particulates (which would have been released) do not and are already negligible.

I could go on and on but I have school work to do. In the end, please don’t be afraid. And don’t judge an industry which has safely provided massive amounts of power for over fifty years with now three major accidents (TMI, Chernobyl, and Fukushima). A lot more people die from car accidents or even radiation poisoning from coal power each year than have cumulatively died from occupational exposure due to nuclear power generation. Also realize that Fukushima Daiichi is forty years old so it isn’t even a contemporary design. There are substantially more intelligent debates about the future of power generation than pointless worrying over Japan’s situation.

Lastly, I would like to state my awe and humble admiration for the people of Japan. I’ve been there multiple times and love the Japanese. Stories of their polite hospitality and orderly reaction to this crisis are inspiring. American’s could stand to learn a lot from them.

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.” – Teddy Roosevelt

I say all of this to illustrate how important it is to be prepared and recognize that the status quo will not always remain. If you prepare and work to live a better life when things go bad you’re also prepared to live a better life when things are still good.

The guy I relieved when I took over at my job called it “The Blind Man” store but I didn’t know he meant that literally. The cashier is also the owner and he has the price for everything memorized. He you tell him what you have and he punches it flawlessly into his register. You tell him how much money you’re giving him and he does the math in his head as he punches the item prices into the register. Then, very energetically he counts out your change and with a flourish hands it to you. He is the friendliest and quickest cashier I’ve ever seen and he has a “disability” many would find almost debilitating.

He is inspiring.

Regarding Superheros: It is such a good time to be a nerd. The Green Lantern trailer has me interested and this coming spring/summer we get Thor and Captain America. The later one will command an excitement from me only rivaled by Batman 3.

Regarding the future: Life is good. While I don’t derive significant job satisfaction from what I’ll be doing the next two years the quality of life is good and I’m making great money. I’m looking forward to two wonderful years with Tovah and then transitioning to work I truly want to do. I have several options and all of them make me smile.

Regarding Politics: Disgusted? Yup, I think disgusted does it.

Regarding my trip to California: Unfortunately my trip had to be cut short by quite a bit. If there is ever one time when my job “sucks” it is now with CVN-74 being in testing. Because of the Stennis’ test program our office is busy and I can’t take as much leave as I had been planning. A lot of the people I had planned on seeing in California are going wait for a trip in February or March. I will however make it down briefly for Nick’s academy graduation. I explained the importance of that event to my boss and she agreed to a few days of leave. I can’t wait!

Regarding UFC 121: Brock Lesnar has previously been a rude and disrespectful douche, which always annoyed me because one thing I love about MMA is the martial art respectfulness seen in MMA competition which is often absent in other sports. So when Cain Valasquez DEMOLISHED him Saturday night with superior skill I was thrilled. See he doesn’t look that happy post fight:

Regarding The Pacific Northwest: How about heaven on earth? I love the smell. I love the light rain. I love the people. Things are great. And being near(er) family and friends is awesome. Tuesday morning I’ll be taking a peaceful ferry ride across the water and hanging out with my long time friend Justin for the day. He and I were practically inseparable in high school so being able to hang together is going to be excellent.

Regarding my Grandpa Bob: My Grandpa Bob passed away on Saturday but it didn’t necessarily come as a shock and he wasn’t in a condition he would have enjoyed. I’ve been through a lot growing up, between my parents and all that, but of the many things I’ve dealt with I never really dealt with the loss of a family member. I’m not all broken up, like I said, he wasn’t in a good way mentally. I guess his passing leaves me reflective. As it often seems to go with grand parents, as a kid I didn’t really appreciate what he’d been through regarding the Korean War and the life perspective he had. Now with ten years of my own military service I would certainly have enjoyed talking to him about the things he saw. Too bad perspective comes too late. R.I.P. Grandpa.