A Tragedy in One Act.

Nostalgia is a funny thing. I remember a time when it seemed, to my limited political IQ, the worst thing I had ever heard a president say was “I am not a crook.” Of course, Nixon did not have Twitter so he had time to think of what his statement should be. And, “I am not a crook” was the best defense he could muster. I kind of miss those days. Days when our president spent time trying to explain that he was better than we thought, those were good days.

Even the days when our president stood in front of the world’s population and threatened "You're either with us or against us in the fight against terror." It had a vaguely Montague, Capulet, or probably closer to a Hatfield, McCoy feel to the statement, and I was personally horrified that a president would say something like that. Even worse when he dragged our country into two wars we had no hope of winning. Sending America’s children to die in foreign lands for suspect reasons, based on flimsy, probably manufactured evidence. But, it almost seems a benign statement today.

Today’s America is run by a playground bully, who maintains a constant stream of abusive, threatening language, via Twitter. He wants to start an unwinnable trade war with our largest trading partner, threats to pull out of a treaty designed to keep atomic weapons from Iran, and spews a constant stream of insults and accusations against our closest neighbor to the south and our third largest trading partner.

And now a tweet aimed at Russia threatening missiles and destruction, all in the name of humanitarian concern. It rings a little hollow in light of his threats to deport, build walls, and block refugees. He is a caring, concerned person as long as it involves missiles, bombs, threats, intimidation and empty rhetoric.

At least, I hope it is empty. Imagine the chaos if we actually start targeting Russian protected sites in the Middle East. It would only be one more mistake in a region with a rich history of pernicious Western decisions. But, it might be the worst one. If you think, even briefly, the Russians would not see this as an act of aggression you are kidding yourself. And if you think, for a second, that Russia would not retaliate then you are a fool.

And, if you don’t think a war between a county with Putin as premier and a country with Trump as president would quickly and irreversibly grow beyond any hope of control or relation to the initial cause then you are lucky. To be that blind in times so perilous and close to the abyss is a blessing.

A New Day,

Yesterday we looked back.,Today we look forward.

 In these five simple characters is an entire universe of information. But, we are going to focus on the enormous destructive implications. Energy equals Mass times the Speed of Light squared. Light travels at 186,000 miles a second, square that number and you have something indescribable to a layperson.  Working backward it becomes obvious that it doesn’t take much mass to create a lot of energy.

Burning a 5 pound piece of wood would yield, if you could capture the energy given off as heat, light and the gasses in the smoke, five pounds. A simple chemical conversion, fuel turned to energy, E=m. Even a chemical explosion is governed by the same laws. In the explosion the energy is just released very quickly. A chemical reaction can only yield as much energy as the mass involved. It is the release of the atom that changes everything. 


There is a tremendous amount of energy holding atoms together. The building blocks of the  universe. Breaking the nuclei apart or forcing them together (fission, or fusion) releases energies on an enormous scale, the power of time and space. 

At the center of a nuclear explosion temperatures can reach 100,000,000° Celsius, the same as the center of the sun.  Within seven-tenths of one millisecond from the detonation, the fireball from a 1-megaton weapon is about 440 feet across, and this increases to 5,700 feet in 10 seconds.

Shock waves travel out, smashing buildings, trees, crushing people, turning the area into finely shredded kindling. Soon the entire area is burning. Dust from the blast combine with smoke and soot from the resulting fires and rise into the atmosphere. 

Since the infrastructure has been destroyed, most of the population killed and those unfortunate survivors are being painfully consumed by radiation poisoning there is no hope of containing the fires. So, they grow, and consume everything in their path.

Before long the clouds block the sun’s rays and the temperature begins to Plummet. Computer models suggest it could remain below freezing for over six months. Fortunately, we have yet to test the accuracy of the predictions.  But, even if they prove to be less drastic, and we can only hope we don't find out, the radiation and prolonged cold and dark would interfere with photosynthesis killing much of the food crop.

Before long many of the plants and animals would die. Following closely are the already weakened survivors who are battling exposure, at least some radiation poisoning and starvation. And those are the “lucky” ones who weren’t close enough to be killed instantly. There will be no survivors, not really. Even if a person lasted through that would they still be human in any way except shape?

When you consider the end does it really matter who fired first, or who was “right?” Probably not. But, those in charge still assume they have the right to make that decision. I'm not so sure. So, I am starting a movement, #MakeAmericaDeadAgain. Join me, together we can make a difference. You don't have to be a Grateful Dead fan to join, but it would give us something pleasant to talk about when the apocalypse gets too heavy.

Our quote for today comes from Mohamed ElBaradei

"I think one country with nuclear weapons is one country too many."

Hello, My Name is Leif

Hello, blogging world, my name is Leif Ecklert. My friend, Tim Clark has invited me to contribute to his blog.

Several years ago I met Tim in Louisville, KY. He was in town with his family for a basketball game, they are big Cardinal fans, #GoCards, Tim. I was in town with my family to fly underground at the Mega Caverns Underground zip line course. Which was amazing, by the way.

We were staying in the same motel, the Embassy Suites. We met waiting in a long line for drinks, Natasha, my wife, and I were standing in line Nancy, Tim's wife and Tim. The line was long, but the drinks were free so it all worked out. 

Tim's wife started a conversation with us, and since we were all stuck together it just kind of grew.

We sat down and talked, turns out we were both Grateful Dead fans. He was more Live Europe 72 and I was more In the Dark. But the Dead is the Dead, right? We both loved the underground zip lines, and we both enjoyed bourbon on the rocks.  Here is the weird part, though, we are both "born to write." It was like we were brothers, without the animosity of being related.

After a few drinks, the lines were long, so we drank slowly, we said good night, and went our separate ways. But, the next morning we ended up in the omelet line together. We sat and drank coffee, and ate too much breakfast. And had a good time.

We stayed in touch a little. Life is a busy place, and drift happens, and we didn't really know each other that well anyway. But, we managed a few messages, a quick email, random, occasional contact.

Here is where it gets weird, though.  We both ended up writing for the same magazine The Wild Word.  Here is my latest post. After he saw that he felt it almost a necessity that I join his blog, Life Explained, Sandusky, you know.

So many things, so much in common, so many coincidences. Tim thought it might signal the end of days. So we decided to try the omelets and free drinks at several Embassy Suites around the country. What better way to face the apocalypse? He said the one outside Omaha is fantastic, and I told him we could stop at the Embassy in downtown Peoria on the way there, I thought it was first rate.

We may try to find an old VW bus, and tour the country trying Embassy Suites, listening to the Dead, and writing tales of daring escape and fantastic discovery. Ken Kesey and Hunter S. Thompson taking a walk on the mild side, ibuprofen instead of acid, and bottled water instead of pot. It will be end up a collection of our greatest hits.

 Of course, if he's wrong our wives are going to be furious.

Pre-breakfast television, not a good idea.

Since I am "working from home" (also known as not working) I had time to research an idea for a new blog post (yes, I do "research," somethings, sometimes).  Most of this research involved watching a show on The History Channel that dealt with doomsday prophesies.  According to this show, there have been a surprising number of people have predicted that world would end, horrifically.  Moreover, again, according to the show, most of those people felt it would be right about now.

Well, historically speaking right about now, about now being sometime in the next several years.
Don't worry, you should have time to finish your coffee.

In "preparation" for this several people have decided to join a society called "Doomsday Preppers."  Feeling that the end is near, these people have taken the initiative to plan for the worst.  They stockpile food, and supplies, often in remote locations.  Occasionally, they have purchased land and began constructing what they call "Bug Out Shelters."   When the whole place melts down they will rush to these places and hide away. Taking their families and whatever possessions they have time to grab.

It is a good plan.  Built, though it is from desperation, and fear.  These people take these precautions very seriously.  Spending a great deal of time, and money.  Sacrificing greatly for the eventual survival of their loved ones.  It is noble, and I admire their determination in the face of such a dire future.

This show offered a very graphic depiction of what these long dead prophets foresaw.  And, anybody who has ever lost a minute of sleep needlessly worrying about pointless things can tell you about "the end of days." Most predictions seemed, according to the show, some variation of this.   Rivers of blood, the unleashing of the Horsemen of the Apocalypse, sores, fire scorpion like locusts, and it gets worse.  It would be very bad.

What we have here is the typical cycle of irresistible force meeting immovable object. People holding out against an end so terrible nobody can survive.  On one side we have people are preparing for the eventual collapse of society (which many people felt happened with the arrival of humanity some few years ago).   On the other we have predictions of Armageddon, and the apocalypse.  An inescapable cataclysm, from which there is no escape.

Armed with this sort of knowledge my decision was simple, I think I will have raisin toast for breakfast and change the channel.  I hope the Ninja Turtles are on, they are so cool.

It's Not Too Late, Yet!

We, here at Life Explained, have changed the threat level from "imminent system failure, and the collapse of civilization" to "cautious optimism."  This change is expressed in the ominous, chilling graphic below.

Last Week                                                                                                       Today

Obviously, things are looking up, and there is renewed hope, here at Life Explained. 

What could cause such a swing, such a sudden, dramatic change?  That is a very good question.  Recently, we here at Life Explained, learned of the selfless acts of one man, one giving, caring man, who, with no thought of reward, no flashy exclamations of self aggrandizement, one man with very little to gain at all, and a hearty investment of time and money, has decided to launch The Fantastic Traveling Book Project.

People all over the world will have the opportunity to share some personal, part of their life in words and pictures with strangers from distant places.  People who thought they had nothing in common could find some mutual ground, some small common trait.  If people start talking, and looking for similarities instead of differences who knows where that might lead.  Maybe even peace and understanding.

What can you do to help?  I am not sure, but, there is a Forum on the site, Forum, for the Fantastic Traveling Book Project, and that might be a good place to ask the venerable Mr. Raven what you can do to assist.  

Anyway, we should all take an active interest in this, we should all be jumping on the chance to spread the word, and the books.  In the immortal words of The Police;

"We can all sink or we all float,

Because we are all in the same big boat."

So, do the right thing, it will make you happy.