Airbrush

All it took to impeach Bill Clinton is he lied to congress about sex with Monica Lewinsky. ​"After the 1998 elections, the House impeached Clinton, alleging perjury and obstruction of justice related to the Lewinsky scandal.[43] Clinton was only the second U.S. President to be impeached, after Andrew Johnson. Impeachment proceedings were based on allegations that Clinton had illegally lied about and covered up his relationship with 22-year-old White House (and later Department of Defense) employee Monica Lewinsky" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Clinton#Impeachment_and_acquittal

What's the probability? What will it take to impeach Trump considering the GOP has control of senate and house and supreme court? Will it take a change in 2 years when there is an election and the Dems have a chance to take control of the house and/or senate? Or could Trump become so obnoxious that even his party turns against him in less than 2 years? It seems like Trump wants to take his office to the unknown in unpopularity. He has such opposition already, what can happen in the next 2 years? I shudder to think.

Health insurance is going to lead to healthier life-style because once you have the insurance you probably want to take advantage of what you paid for by visiting your doctor periodically, and having your annual blood tests. That way you at least have to listen to your doctor lobby for healthy eating and exercising habits, and stop smoking and stop excessive alcohol. At least someone to nag you about taking care of yourself. What about all the sugar, salt, fat, and chemicals that are intended to make processed foods more interesting and have a long shelf life? Plain simple healthy food already is delicious enough when you learn to appreciate the subtle deliciousness. I steam a batch of broccoli every few days and when it is cooked just perfectly it is delicious to nibble on fresh steamed broccoli without any spices or salt. But I don't crave to eat a lot of it. Would it be smarter for me to drench the broccoli in spicy sauces so I would probably like to eat a little too much?

There is an old saying that goes something like “An ounce of prevention is worth more than a pound of cures.” The big expense for everyone is health care insurance. That is why it is better that everyone be insured so they may begin to expend the ounce of prevention in terms of healthy life-style (diet and exercise) EARLY in life, and often avoid the expensive treatments for the ailments of an unhealthy life style later in life. That helps to avoid using the emergency room as your doctor of last resort. People need to be reminded and encouraged to make the effort for a healthy life-style. That is why I propose the junk food tax. A panel of nutrition experts could develop a scale of healthiness to assign a number to the junkiness of a food in terms of the density of sugar, salt, trans-fats, and whatever unnatural coloring or preservatives, or other ingredients to give the food a craving factor. I would save money since I already love the healthy foods. Modern processed foods are created to induce people to develop a craving for it and to overeat that! Imagine that, food that is too much fun to eat? I foresee a future with less demand for health professionals, because people are generally healthier, due to healthy life-style, and less demand for expensive heroic treatments. Some foods are more nutritious and others not so. The higher the junkiness of a food, the higher the tax. The medicinal foods (fruits, veges, and other healthy foods) should be subsidized so they are very cheap and so folks are motivated financially to purchase healthier foods. I’m with Kaiser and they have a list of superfoods: AVOCADOS, BLUE BERRIES, BROCCOLI, KALE, LENTILS, NUTS, OATMEAL, QUINOA, SALMON, SWEET POTATO. Interesting the only animal protein on the list is salmon. Physical activity, through sports or other such activity, should be encouraged throughout life. Neighborhoods should have sports teams of all levels of ability, to encourage people to get physical activity and eat healthy. Where do I go to join the local track and field team, since I specialize in the 2K? Or pole vault? Every neighborhood should have sports complexes for the locals to congregate and form teams. If you can prove you are physically active and eating healthy, however that can be done by blood or other tests, you can get a tax break!

"Was the start of the Big Bang really the beginning of time?" It was the beginning of time in our region. We don't know what exists beyond our visual horizon. So there could be other big bangs far away that have their own time scale and beginning of THEIR time.

Stars have solar systems, they make up a galaxy, galaxies make up clusters, and clusters make up superclusters. The trend is higher levels of clustering. The next logical clustering is big bangs or universes.

Because nature takes the simplest course, like water flowing in a stream. The universe could be infinite, but it is a lot easier to be finite. That the universe exists at all is an amazing accomplishment, to suppose the universe not only came into existence but was ALSO infinite in size is an extra leap nature needs to take. And that is possible, however I suppose the universe is a little more likely FINITE. This is purely speculative, and will most likely remain that way because of the nature of this unknowable issue in cosmology.

I don't know where this originated, but it seems relevant: "The 15 Warnings Signs of Impending Tyranny MONDAY, JANUARY 2, 2017 As tyrants take control of democracies, they typically: 1. Exaggerate their mandate to govern – claiming, for example, that they won an election by a landslide even after losing the popular vote. 2. Repeatedly claim massive voter fraud in the absence of any evidence, in order to restrict voting in subsequent elections. 3. Call anyone who opposes them “enemies.” 4. Turn the public against journalists or media outlets that criticize them, calling them “deceitful” and “scum.” 5. Hold few if any press conferences, preferring to communicate with the public directly through mass rallies and unfiltered statements. 6. Tell the public big lies, causing them to doubt the truth and to believe fictions that support the tyrants’ goals. 7. Blame economic stresses on immigrants or racial or religious minorities, and foment public bias and even violence against them. 8. Attribute acts of domestic violence to “enemies within,” and use such events as excuses to beef up internal security and limit civil liberties. 9. Threaten mass deportations, registries of religious minorities, and the banning of refugees. 10. Seek to eliminate or reduce the influence of competing centers of power, such as labor unions and opposition parties. 11. Appoint family members to high positions of authority 12. Surround themselves with their own personal security force rather than a security detail accountable to the public. 13. Put generals into top civilian posts 14. Make personal alliances with foreign dictators. 15. Draw no distinction between personal property and public property, profiteering from their public office."

The big bang created as far as we can see and probably much further. One big bang created all the galaxies that we can see and probably many further away. The universe could be infinite or finite, but more likely finite.

"An Evangelical Declaration on Global Warming,...states that "We believe Earth and its ecosystems—created by God’s intelligent design and infinite power and sustained by His faithful providence —are robust, resilient, self-regulating, and self-correcting, admirably suited for human flourishing, and displaying His glory. Earth’s climate system is no exception. Recent global warming is one of many natural cycles of warming and cooling in geologic history..."

Even though China relies heavily on fossil fuel, they also produce more renewable energy than any nation, over twice as much renewable energy as the US. Mostly from hydropower, but China is second only to the US in production of wind power, and produces the most energy from solar of any nation. China takes renewable energy seriously and wants to become the "go to" country to purchase your renewable energy technology. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_electricity_production_from_renewable_sources

Ok "unknowable" is not the proper word because we don't know what we cannot know. Has anything been discovered that we know about dark matter besides a definition? The term "dark matter" implies it is a form of matter, yet nothing else is known yet, or did I miss a discovery since the term was coined? Such as "WIMPs" which is just another way of saying "a form of matter". Same goes for dark energy. Nothing yet known, just speculation. ​"The first to suggest the existence of dark matter (using stellar velocities) was Dutch astronomer Jacobus Kapteyn in 1922..." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_matter#Cosmic_microwave_background_radiation_.28CMB.29 ​​The term "dark matter" has been around since 1922, yet still not much "known" about it.

Nobody "wants" to confront an unpleasant reality, especially someone like Trump who is high on the scale of narcissism. Certainly Trump wants to "present reality in a way that serves his interest", that is human nature. It is hard to believe that he really doubts the consensus of all US security agencies, but he will do everything he can to cast doubt upon those agencies, as well as the "crooked media" simply because he is embarrassed by them. Yes, he is "completely cynical" which is consistent with his narcissistic personality disorder (NPD). He has "taken so long to apprise himself of their findings" because their findings are embarrassing. The answer to your questions are yes to "all the above" IMO. "...The latest, fifth, edition (2013) of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) -- the classificatory bible of psychology in North America -- has done an excellent job of revamping the definition of NPD by introducing a dimensional description of the disorder. But, the diagnostic criteria from the previous, fourth, edition of the DSM are more accessible to laymen. So, here they are, updated with the latest knowledge we have about this pernicious disorder. You can easily see T R U M P writ large in each and every one of the nine criteria. "The narcissist ... Feels grandiose and self-important (e.g., exaggerates accomplishments, talents, skills, contacts, and personality traits to the point of lying, demands to be recognized as superior without commensurate achievements)Is obsessed with fantasies of unlimited success, fame, fearsome power or omnipotence, unequaled brilliance (the cerebral narcissist), bodily beauty or sexual performance (the somatic narcissist), or ideal, everlasting, all-conquering love or passionFirmly convinced that he or she is unique and, being special, can only be understood by, should only be treated by, or associate with, other special or unique, or high-status people (or institutions)Requires excessive admiration, adulation, attention and affirmation – or, failing that, wishes to be feared and to be notorious (Narcissistic Supply)Feels entitled. Demands automatic and full compliance with his or her unreasonable expectations for special and favorable priority treatmentIs "interpersonally exploitative," i.e., uses others to achieve his or her own endsDevoid of empathy. Is unable or unwilling to identify with, acknowledge, or accept the feelings, needs, preferences, priorities, and choices of othersConstantly envious of others and seeks to hurt or destroy the objects of his or her frustration. Suffers from persecutory (paranoid) delusions as he or she believes that they feel the same about him or her and are likely to act similarlyBehaves arrogantly and haughtily. Feels superior, omnipotent, omniscient, invincible, immune, "above the law," and omnipresent (magical thinking). Rages when frustrated, contradicted, or confronted by people he or she considers inferior to him or her and unworthy..."​"...You just have to look at Trump's business history to extrapolate America's future under a President Trump. Narcissists are unstable and go through repeated cycles of self-destruction (with other people usually paying the heft of the price). Narcissists tend to be divisive, vindictive, confrontational, aggressive, hate-filled, raging, incoherent, judgment-impaired, and irrational. Narcissists are junkies: they are addicted to attention ("Narcissistic Supply") and will go to any extreme to secure it. Narcissists are liars, confabulators, and miserable failures (although some of them, like Trump, are geniuses at disguising the fact that they are, in fact, losers)...." http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2016/03/donald_trump_and_narcissistic_personality_disorder_an_interview_with_sam_vaknin.html#ixzz4ULWasCci

I used the term unknowable because not much progress has been made in knowing what they are. Or did I miss a discovery about them? What do we know about them (dark matter and dark energy) NOW that we didn't know when the terms were introduced?

All dark matter and dark energy may have in common is how unknowable they seem to be.

Did anyone miss this prediction by comedian, Adam Carolla, in 2008, that Trump would be president 8 years later? Then Adam does some Trump:

Then Dr. Roy Spencer would be among the 3% of climatologists that are not pro climate change? Is there a Ph.D. degree in climatology? Or do most climatologists have their Ph.D. degree in meteorology? A poster had suggested that the 97% of climatologists in favor of climate change are from a skewed set of students. To be interested in climate science, most students would chose that discipline because they are worried about the environment and already believe in climate change. So they want to do research to prove what they already believe. Those that were skeptical, or deniers, in advance would NOT be interested in the subject to begin with. "Spencer is a signatory to An Evangelical Declaration on Global Warming,[31][32] which states that "We believe Earth and its ecosystems—created by God’s intelligent design and infinite power and sustained by His faithful providence —are robust, resilient, self-regulating, and self-correcting, admirably suited for human flourishing, and displaying His glory. Earth’s climate system is no exception. Recent global warming is one of many natural cycles of warming and cooling in geologic history.".[33] He believes that most climate change is natural in origin, the result of long-term changes in the Earth's albedo and that anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions have caused some warming, but that its warming influence is small compared to natural, internal, chaotic fluctuations in global average cloud cover.[34] This view contradicts the scientific consensus that "most of the warming observed over the last 50 years is attributable to human activities". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_Spencer_(scientist)

Thanks for the link. Interesting site. Guess I'm going to be there for a while researching for my debate with my brother. Roy Spencer's web site home page has the word "Climatologist" after his name. Wikipedia says: "Spencer received a B.S. in atmospheric sciences from the University of Michigan in 1978 and his M.S. and Ph.D. in meteorology from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1980 and 1982.[3] His doctoral thesis was titled, A case study of African wave structure and energetics during Atlantic transit." ​If someone gets a M.S. and Ph.D. in meteorology, does that make them a climatologist?

Any climate scientists out there understand the point that a reputable Ph.D. climatologist, Roy Spencer makes to dispute the consensus view of climate change? This is from his web site. I was searching for a climate science expert that is a skeptic and Roy Spencer looks like the real thing. http://www.drroyspencer.com/global-warming-101/ "It has been calculated theoretically that, if there are no other changes in the climate system, a doubling of the atmospheric CO2 concentration would cause less than 1 deg C of surface warming (about 1 deg. F). This is NOT a controversial statement…it is well understood by climate scientists. (As of 2008, we were about 40% to 45% of the way toward a doubling of atmospheric CO2.) BUT…everything this else in the climate system probably WON’T stay the same! For instance, clouds, water vapor, and precipitation systems can all be expected to respond to the warming tendency in some way, which could either amplify or reduce the manmade warming. These other changes are called “feedbacks,” and the sum of all the feedbacks in the climate system determines what is called ‘climate sensitivity’. Negative feedbacks (low climate sensitivity) would mean that manmade global warming might not even be measurable, lost in the noise of natural climate variability. But if feedbacks are sufficiently positive (high climate sensitivity), then manmade global warming could be catastrophic. Obviously, knowing the strength of feedbacks in the climate system is critical; this is the subject of most of my research. Here you can read about my latest work on the subject, in which I show that feedbacks previously estimated from satellite observations of natural climate variability have potentially large errors. A confusion between forcing and feedback (loosely speaking, cause and effect) when observing cloud behavior has led to the illusion of a sensitive climate system, when in fact our best satellite observations (when carefully and properly interpreted) suggest an IN-sensitive climate system. Finally, if the climate system is insensitive, this means that the extra carbon dioxide we pump into the atmosphere is not enough to cause the observed warming over the last 100 years — some natural mechanism must be involved. Here you can read about my favorite candidate: the Pacific Decadal Oscillation."

He has more than "ignored intel briefings" he has consistently EVADED them. How can he claim to know things when he won't even listen to the intelligence available? He has his own secret sources? When will the audit of his income taxes be done? He cleverly changes the subject and we forget about his taxes. What will it take to impeach him?

IF the universe is finite and bounded, then there is a center (0,0,0,0) and our address would be (x,y,z,t).

​"According to Alan Downs, corporate narcissism occurs when a narcissist becomes the chief executive officer or other leadership roles within the senior management team and gathers an adequate mix of codependents around him (or her) to support the narcissistic behavior. Narcissists profess company loyalty but are only really committed to their own agendas, thus organizational decisions are founded on the narcissist's own interests rather than the interests of the organization as a whole, the various stakeholders, or the society in which the organization operates. As a result, "a certain kind of charismatic leader can run a financially successful company on thoroughly unhealthy principles for a time...." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narcissistic_leadership Michael Moore called Trump a "malignant narcissist" but that seems a bit extreme to me. He is however, a textbook example of narcissistic personality disorder. "Malignant narcissism is a psychological syndrome comprising an extreme mix of narcissism, antisocial personality disorder, aggression, and sadism. Often grandiose, and always ready to raise hostility levels, the malignant narcissist undermines organizations in which they are involved, and dehumanizes the people with whom they associate...." ​​Trump systematically dehumanizes anyone who criticizes him by calling them "a disaster!" starting with Rosie O'Donnell, to my knowledge. In an interview with one of the Trump sons, the son laughed telling about how hard his dad was on him to perform better at his job, or be "fired like a dog!" About Mitt Romney, "he got down on his knees before me!" Note the exclamation points are no exaggeration. Again dehumanizing. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malignant_narcissism

The fact that climate change is not high on the list of Americans concerns means climate change is losing the "ongoing" debate. That is why people think having a big, official, definitive, SPECTACULAR debate is a bad idea, because the climate deniers will win. Just like the upset when Trump won the election because of Hillary's stupidity and the stupidity of her campaign. That is a sad state! All I can say is cutting-edge computer-generated imagery animations. That is the tool. Now please get to work y'all CGI animators.

I often hear this, but it is a slight exaggeration. We DO have ideas beyond the observable. As an non-expert I would dare to suggest that immediately beyond the edge of the observable universe is much more of the same. Probably much more of the same for quite some distance. Other than that, you know far more about this subject than I do. Thank you.

IF the universe is finite in size, then (1) we have an exact location, and (2) there is an exact center of gravity, (or center of the universe) within that finite volume, defined by x,y,z coordinates. The center of the universe would have coordinates (0,0,0).