Imaginings: Listen to the Universe

Listen to the universe.
Hear the sound of the waterfall drowning out the sound of the bird.
Frogs croaking in time to the ripples made by fish.
The orchestra of nature plays its musical score daily.
The wind, rain and thunder have their own solos.
Wolf cries punctuate the crescendos with small animal and insect sounds filling in the quieter sections of the musical score.
It truly is the song that never ends.

Thoughts: American History Revised:Wartime

Source: American History Revised  by Seymour Morris Jr. Copyright 2012

The most interesting parts of history, I think, are the little known parts that we don't get in school.

• The cement used to make Hoover Dam took 20 months to set.
• FDR's grandfather Delano was a giant in the China opium trade.
• America is a Constitutional Republic, not a democracy. A democracy is a rule by the masses, where majorities exercise power without accounting for the interests of the minority wishes, not a balanced distribution of power, but rather a "mob" run society.
• The cost of the Civil War turned out to be about 3 times the cost of paying Southerners for their slave's freedom, yet at the time the $2 Billion cost for slaves freedom was considered too high and yet it would have been cheaper in so many ways--lives, money, etc.
• Calvin Coolidge was asked for more planes for the Army Signal Corps to use. His response, "Why can't they buy just one airplane and take turns flying it?"
• Karl Marx thought the US should have annexed all of Mexico.
• Washington's army at Valley Forge was starving, not because there was no food, but because the farmers could get more money from the British in Philadelphia.
• The fatality rate for white Confederacy soldiers was 25%.
• The Confederacy had to use urine to make nitrate which was used to make gunpowder because of being short of chemicals to make gunpowder. Confederate women would even save their urine to be picked up by wagons.
• Before battle, the troops were told to use the "facilities" since getting hit in the gut would be worse if excrement was present.
• 75% of all white families in the South owned NO slaves.

Query: How does the Anti-Terrorism Act impact us?

During the time we were hearing so much about Osama Bin Laden, President Bill Clinton passed into law the Anti-Terrorism Act. This Act defines as illegal and worthy of punishment any actions that "appear to be intended toward violence or activities which could intimidate or coerce a civilian population; or to influence the policy of a government."

I have been thinking about what that could mean. Would that mean that some of the activities we have been hearing about in the news, would fall under the Act? Black Lives Matter, for example, might be considered to be "intended toward violence or activities which could intimidate or coerce a civilian population". Also, included may be those who are upset about the new North Carolina law concerning LGBT people. I'm sure if any of us think just a little, we could come up with instances that could fall under the purview of this Act. It also concerns me that the Act could be used to take away whatever is left of our Constitutional rights by labeling something as Terrorism.

What do you think? What might be the implications?If I don't see everything your way, could you accuse me of being a terrorist? Could groups of people, intent on protesting whatever, be considered terrorists? Could this be interpreted to mean that a person with an unpopular opinion be seen as trying to influence the policy of government? Lots of questions here, people and some of the answers are downright frightening.

Query: Could We Generate Energy Using Sound Waves?

 

What about using sound waves to generate energy?
The world is filled with sound and different frequencies have varying power. Each frequency creates a wave, thus, if we could tap into the series of sound waves generated, we could create a type of perpetual motion. Maybe even, like electricity, we could develop transformers to step up or down the sound "current". The rumble of trains, planes and trucks could literally be used to power a building.

Thoughts?

Query: What is the difference between Socialism and Communism?

 
Socialism:

1.

a theory or system of social organization that advocates the vesting of the ownership and control of the means of production and distribution, of capital, land, etc., in the community as a whole.

2.

procedure or practice in accordance with this theory.

3.

(in Marxist theory) the stage following capitalism in the transition of a society to communism, characterized by the imperfect implementation of collectivist principles.

 http://www.dictionary.com/browse/socialism

•  An economic concept that proposes equal ownership of property, whether by government or individuals. Decisions are made by a controlling party and instead of a democratic approach, socialism removes group decision making in favor of the ruling individual.

• Socialism applies to economic systems.

• Believes socialism and capitalism can coexist.
• High taxation costs are passed down from the rich to the poor and the small and medium sized businesses are usually particularly hit hard. The costs passed down serve to drive those who were struggling down even more, thus creating a very hard hit to the overall economy.
• “Democracy and socialism have nothing in common but one word, equality. But notice the difference: while democracy seeks equality in liberty, socialism seeks equality in restraint and servitude.”
  -- French historian and political theorist Alexis de Tocqueville
• Socialism assumes the basic nature of people is cooperation and not competition. Capitalism thrives on competition.
  Democratic Socialism: The factors of production are managed by a democratically-elected government.Central planning distributes common goods, such as mass transit, housing, and energy, while the free market is allowed to distribute consumer goods.  (Source: Democratic Socialists of America.)
• Profits spread equally among people. Healthcare, education provided with no discrimination. Work for the good of the whole.
• Disadvantage: discourages competition and entrepreneurship. Not as innovative as capitalism. Possibility that those in control will abuse their power and take more and more power for themselves.
• Resources are allotted by personal input or amount of work. 
• They believe everyone will benefit as long as the capitalism is controlled by the central planning system.

Communism:

1.

a theory or system of social organization based on the holding of all property in common, actual ownership being ascribed to the community as a whole or to the state.

2.

(often initial capital letter) a system of social organization in which all economic and social activity is controlled by a totalitarian state dominated by a single and self-perpetuating political party.

3.

(initial capital letter) the principles and practices of the Communist Party.

 http://www.dictionary.com/browse/communism

• Communism applies to both economic and political systems.
• Directly opposes capitalism.
• Advocates economic equality and state ownership of various goods and services. 
• Resources allotted by need.
• Some believe communism is a "higher" or more extreme socialism.
• People are equally provided for regardless of their contribution.

Difference Between Socialism, Capitalism and Communism

Attribute	Socialism	Capitalism	Communism
Factors of production are owned by	Everyone	Individuals	Everyone
Factors of production are valued for	Usefulness to people	Profit	Usefulness to people
Allocation decided by	Central plan	Law of demand and supply	Central plan
From each according to his	Ability	Market decides	Ability
To each according to his	Contribution	Income, wealth and borrowing ability	Need

http://useconomy.about.com/od/US-Economy-Theory/fl/Socialism-Types-Pros-Cons-Examples.htm

Capitalism:

1.

an economic system in which investment in and ownership of the means of production, distribution, and exchange of wealth is made and maintained chiefly by private individuals or corporations, especially as contrasted to cooperatively or state-owned means of wealth.

http://www.dictionary.com/browse/capitalism

 

If we were to embrace Democratic Socialism in America, what would it look like? Granted we do have a few things that are on the socialist side such as social security and public schools . It scares me to think of Congress as the central planning system. I also look back on the times the government has tried to run different areas of our country. I recall the mess of them running Amtrak and the Postal system. The public schools are struggling and Social Security is on the brink of running out of money. The government's latest adventure into healthcare is a questionable socialist gambit. Some would argue it is wonderful, while others feel it is costing them a prohibitive amount more.
The cost of higher education has gone up and up and many would like it to be covered by the government such as K-12 is. What would happen to the college professors? Would free college serve to shut down private colleges and universities? What about faith based schools, if the government pays the bills, would the government also "call the shots"?
There are so many questions to be answered and I'm sure you can think of many more. Instead of thinking in the short term, maybe we should be considering where we would like to see America in say, ten years. What I see happening now has to change. It concerns me to see special interest bullies threaten the entire country because they may not get their way. Whether or not a person is wanting Trump for president, the fact that those for him are being bullied and threatened. What seems to be happening this election cycle is almost anarchy. Let everyone vote and decide for themselves, majority rule is what America was initially founded on. There have been more than once that I have not particularly cared about the national choice for President, but I support your freedom to choose whomsoever you wish.