SHRAPNEL OFF THE WALL

MH370, The Search

And so the search for the Malaysian plane continues.

What do the Australians say now?

Are they still following dolphins?

What other theories are cropping up now?

Does the plane carry people fleeing towards Australia?

Was the plane brought down because

it was mistaken to be a security threat?

Was the plane under some remote control?

Was the plane brought down to distract public attention

from what was going to happen somewhere else?

Courtney Love has another theory

and she has this picture of the waters

in the Indian Ocean.

No sign of dead bodies floating, though

What say you, we get Mad Max to check this out?

For another Academy Award?

Yike (Tony) Yang

Chopin Concerto No. 1

Canadian Yike (Tony) Yang

plays Chopin’s Piano Concerto no. 1

In the 17^th Chopin International Piano Competition.

On video here are the Second and Third Movements of the concerto.

Chopin’s compositions are not noted for their orchestral arrangements.

These rather lack the fireworks nor the brilliance easily noticeable

with the other composers of his time.

The First Movement of the Concerto No. 1 started with what seems like

a lyrical passage of an Edvard Grieg, and then proceeds to a benign pastoral

introduction of the themes to be played.

It is as if the movement relates a story

of  “how it was and what could have happened”.

Then comes the Second Movement, and the concerto becomes seductive,

inviting the listener to hear a different story.

  The piano asks a question, and thereafter

answers this question by its own

with what women would call ‘sweet nothings”

Listen and get entranced.

Chopin calls this movement aptly as Romance.

Romance Larghetto.mp4

(Chopin may not be that good in orchestral arrangements but he overcame this shortcoming by making the orchestra as an accompaniment only.)

The Ultimate Solution

The Ultimate Solution to the Syrian conflict,

according to America,

is the partitioning of the country.

And again, the U.S. puts out that they have the last say

on the problems of the world.

The last say, you say, well not in my book.

My book says partitioning Korea worsened the problem.

North Korea has become more belligerent,

not counting the sufferings of the North Koreans today.

The U.S. wants to partition any and all

conflicts in this world that they don’t win.

Well, it was too late for Vietnam to partition.

The Americans just plain gave up and left.

Now the Vietnamese are doing good as a unified country.

A partitioned Syria would present more problems

because there are more groups to demand their portion.

This would leave Syria in more divisions than two.

Ultimately, this solution would present more headaches

to the U.S. than the present one.

To wit, which of the “rebel” groups

will they arm and patronize?

Who would own the oil fields?

Which would be Sunni and which would be Shia?

Who pays for the restoration and national defense?

Again, the Americans will be leaving

another part of the world in shambles.

Maybe they prefer the world better this way—in shambles!

(would the Americans dare to mention “partition” to the Ukrainians?)

Turkey’s Gamble

I never would have guessed

that the Turkish public do not approve

of what their government is doing

as regards Syria and NATO.

Turkey’s Gamble.mp4

It appears that Erdogan’s regime is the one that needs toppling

and not Assad’s!

Bombardier

The name of this company rings out as if it were still in post WW II.

Actually it is, because we never have WW III.

This company is noted for building trains and planes

in twain.

To cut the story short,

this company could have built the F-35 successfully,

what with all the money that was spent uselessly on this attack plane.

This newer stealth fighter have had

defective performances up till today.

My guess, and this is still a guess,

that the stealth body of this plane was built first

and then parts to fly it were designed or

scrounged around.

There probably was a hurry to build this model

after the other one was shot down.

But no guessing now, there is no need for stealth

during the present time because conflicts today

do not require stealthy invasions

and/or sneak attacks.

Just simple strafing and bombing would do.

Besides stealth planes can be seen from satellites

streaking through the air over Google maps

or cutting through the atmosphere as seen

on weather radar.

This model, if designed and built by Bombardier,

could very well have been twin-engined,

sleek as an arrow,

and using sub-orbital performance features.

Under these conditions, the Canadian government

may agree with a consortium funded by the U.S.

and handled by Bombardier.

EYH?

BC Premier Fires First Salvo

True to the embellishments attuned to her feminine nature,

B.C. Premier Christy Clark fires the first shot

against neighbor province, Alberta.

She unleashed a tirade of Alberta’s decisions

that caused the excessive dip in Alberta’s economy.

These censures were not necessarily gossip.

These are actually presented in a speech

towards her meaningful countrymen.

Off hand I can tell her,

with the same respect  she gave the people of Alberta,

to go where it is befitting for her to go.

Alberta’s economy and whatever it implies

is none of her business.

If she believes that it is Alberta’s fault that B.C.

is flooded with homeless people from Alberta,

she is a liar!

Perhaps she should know that year by year

there stand in the middle of the roads in Edmonton

people sporting placards that say they need help

in raising money to go back to Vancouver.

Perhaps also she should know that Vancouver

is the preferred place for homeless people from all of Canada

because of the warm weather

and the low standard of living imposed by

a huge population of Orientals.

And she has debased Alberta’s economy in the midst

of B.C. ads that point out the amazing progress of

her province in employment and economy.

And now she says she can’t take care of homeless people,

If I might add, Alberta still has some  excessive use for the oil

that it produces.

On the other hand, B.C. will be unable to use its

forests and trees which were decimated by forest fires.

Alberta does not really hanker much for

black cherries and red apples grown by B.C.

B.C. must still use the oil produced by Alberta.

Last time I was there in Vancouver,

the price of gasoline was 30 cents a liter

more than the price of gas in Edmonton.

Premier Christy Clark should know that

she should try another way to blackmail

Alberta into giving her a bigger cut from

the pipeline going through B.C.

Either that or we put the PC’s back!.

Van Cliburn

Along came this tall Texan with the curly hair and the Nordic name

who wowed the judges of the International Piano Competition.

Van Cliburn.mp4

Here he plays Rachmaninoff’s Concerto No. 2,

Third Movement..

Composer Rachmaninoff traditionally writes the favorite variation

in the last movement, and so here is the

more popular “Full Moon and Empty Arms” variation.

Big Bang and the Lamp Post

Where did the universe come from?

Nobody can yet answer that.

Perhaps Eisnetin could but he’s dead.

And if he did, he would have done it in simple words.

Let us see if we can explain things in simple words,

perhaps by using a lamp post.

Let us start with the Theory of Relativity,

ENERGY = mass times the square of the speed of light.

Simply, it means that when the speed of matter

comes closer to the speed of light

it becomes thinner and thinner until it

converts to pure energy when it reaches the speed of light.

And conversely, energy will convert to mass

if it reduces its speed to less than the speed of light.

Photons of light therefore turns to mass

when it slows down.

Now comes the lamp post.

If a pickup truck slams into a lamp post

the post may break, but not until it stops the truck.

The velocity of the truck (and the post) is now zero

and the resulting momentum (mass times velocity)  is zero.

But the mass of the truck is still there.

Its momentum is zero because the velocity is zero.

Now, if the speed of light is zero (no light), could there have been

mass present before the Big Bang?

If so, could there have been energy present before the Big Bang?

Now let us say that the truck’s engine have been restarted,

then the force to move it now exists.

 The momentum is still zero because it has yet to move.

The minute the truck moves is the minute its life

is restarted and the momentum now exists.

By analogy, there might have been mass present before the Big Bang,

Either that or Energy, or both.

In all this dormant and quiet situation, something stirred.

Something uncertain, or roguish or a rebel stirred.

 Pretty soon every other thing wants to get into the act

and started a breakout.

And so blows the Big Bang.

And starts time for the universe as we know it.

You may say that this is one crazy idea that I posted here.

It would have been crazier had I said that the Dark Matter,

or that matter that we know is there but is invisible,

is really a super massive mass of a Black Hole

that has been stopped by a lamp post!

(I can imagine my grinning Physics 101 teacher thinking he was right in suggesting to me to drop his subject and take up comedy instead.)

Nobody’s Business But The Turks

Echoing my phrase “No ifs, no buts”,

the Turks demand that the U.S. come to their aid

in their war against the Kurds….

“The only thing we expect from our US ally is to support Turkey with no ifs or buts,” Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told a news conference after a five-hour security meeting with cabinet and state officials.

They forget

that it is not now mighty Constantinople no more…

but Istanbul….

Turkish Delight  on a Moonlit Night,

Istanbul!

Why did Constantinople get the works?

That’s nobody’s business but the Turks!

let us see how the US Secretary of State charm out of this one….without blaming the Russians

The Apple-FBI Row

FBI tells Apple to unlock the terrorists’ cell phone.

Now why would Apple do this

when the publicity is going to make them more money than can be imagined

from the terrorists, of course.

Consequently, a lawsuit is now in the offing

to unlock the phone so that

the FBI can find out what may help

Homeland Security.

And once again points thrown in this argument do not meet.

For one thing, cell phones can be unlocked just by

opening it up to bypass the circuitry for

decoding.

This is a simple procedure and this is done

to resell stolen cell phones.

But it should not go this way,

this Apple-FBI spat.

All they have to consider is that unlocking cell phones

will be done by Apple only by individual cases.

On pain of legal castration,

Apple will have to unlock the cell phones

which the FBI  have determined to be

owned by PROVEN and CAPTURED,

or SLAIN terrorists.

Apple will not be required to unlock the cell phones

of people who are merely under suspicion of terrorism.

Apple and FBI should talk to each other

eye to eye

and not thru cell phones.

Hornets Come Home

Hornets Come Home

After what appears to be a not too productive bombing of ISIS targets, Canadian PM Justin Trudeau yanked out the six CF-18 fighters from the Middle East after their last assigned mission.

The planes, being outmoded, are getting too expensive to maintain. Also, Bombing ISIS targets put innocent civilians at risk, and both the Americans and the Russians readily blame the Canadian bombings for killing civilians.

Putting special forces on the field as a replacement for the planes would be much more effective. They could help with the humanitarian agencies. They could train anti-Isis soldiers. And they would be cheaper to sustain.

More importantly, they would verify the reports provided by the media as regards Syria, Turkey, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and the Kurds. This is necessary for the Canadian government to formulate or modify foreign policy.

Canada is not anymore putting big contingents to assist the Un as peacemakers for the reason that Canada is not anymore a member of the Security Council, and therefore does not have a say in the deployment of Canadian troops. Canada may not accept anymore Canadian troops being killed by friendly fire.

If the Special Forces that are deployed would be in battle, so be it. At least the battle would not bother the conscience. Note that bombing people, even though they are ISIS terrorists, imply that those being bombed are not able to fight back.

It may have been so that the presence of Canadian troops in the middle East is being done for the purpose of keeping up with appearances that Canada is an international power. So goes the influence of EU, NATO, and the US. After all this voluntary contribution of Canadian manpower and hardware, Canada now has a broken economy in return.

Trump At Odds With The Pope

Suddenly the wind shifts

and this will not be good for somebody we know.

The Pope is infallible

when he speaks ex cathedra.

And he will not surrender one iota of dogma.

Render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s.

Render unto Trump what is Trump’s.

The Pope’s words are not commands.

Rather these are pastoral in nature.

The ones most guilty

are usually the ones most affected.

Whether they be Christians, or non-Christians.

The Best Country In The World

You do not have to guess it,

nor think twice about it,

Canada is the one country in the world

that people all over the world would like to live in.

Subtly discernible is the,

  continued concerted effort

to ruin this image of Canada.

The unfavorable economic situation in Canada

is one effect of this concerted effort.

I may therefore write about the economic progress

of Canada by Canadians.

After, of course, my promised write up

of the jet planes withdrawal.

Journalist?

Journalism is a profession

and as such those who work as journalists

should suffer for themselves

education and training

as required by the vocation.

Me?

I am not a journalist

never aspired to be one

never rated myself as a journalist.

They are, I know, get paid

to work as one.

My work as a blogger,

however, may not be as good as a journalist

but maybe even better.

For one thing, I write what I want to write,

from what I believe should be written.

My written works are free

read it or leave it.

My website accepts no comments

but tell me what topic you want an argument with

and I will indulge you.

This website has been on since June, 2009.

It has  yet to receive a contradiction or an argument

about what has been written.

I give myself heavy pats on the back for this

knowing that I am only a blogger

and not a journalist.

I have never received training nor education as a journalist.

And nobody taught me how to write in English.

I am a blogger.

And I like it better that way!

Canadian Foreign Policy Shift

Sunny Prime Minister Justin Trudeau ran into heavy flak

regarding the decision of his cabinet

to withdraw the six jet fighters from

the fray in the Middle East.

It should be noted that he informed the Americans

about this withdrawal in his first visit to the US

before his inauguration.

I am now further convinced that he is going to do

as he promised before he got elected.

What impresses me most is the significance of his actions so far.

He is now proving to the Canadians and to the people of the world

that he has a mind of his own.

He is going to think and act sans intimidation

nor influence from any external entity.

And for this end

he should be given support by all Canadians,

excepting, of course, the opposition;

because they will not be called the opposition

if they do not oppose!

But let me discuss further on my next posts

the logic in this decision

and the benefits to be derived from it.

Replacing Justice Scalia

The President of the United States

shall nominate a replacement for

Scalia for Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court,

No ifs, no buts, no wait!

It is so written.

Jeannie Lee

Reshmi Nair

Rhapsody on a Harley-Davidson

Rhapsody on a Harley-Davidson

I’m just kidding, of course.

It can’t be done on a Harley-Davidson.

But why would I say

Rhapsody on a Harley-Davidson

if it can’t be done on a motorbike?

You might have guessed, though,

that what I have in mind is the

Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini,

and the reason for the caption is this :

This is Danill Trifonov in his characteristic posture

when he is concentrating on the notes.

Notice that this posture is assumed by bikers

when they are in a hurry to get to a diner

before the rain catches up on them.

Trifonov does reflect the notion

that he is whizzing through the composition.

Well, in fact he is!

Rhapsody.mp4

Rachmaninov composed this rhapsody by

putting up 18 variations of a theme

played by Paganini.

The 14th variation is, however, the one that tops the others.

In fact, I believe that Rachmaninov composed 17

more variations of this theme because he wanted

to showcase the 14th variation.

14th Variation.mp4

This particular theme by Paganini is made up

of about 8 notes which were introduced

in the beginning of the piece.

The 14th variation is simply the inverted notes

of the theme and excessively stretched out

to give the listener a pleasant surprise.

You will recognize the 14th variation

when suddenly you drop your horses

to listen enraptured by the music.

Alexis Morrison

I think I spelled the surname right today!

Whomever took this photo has excellent light settings.. Of course Alexis helped,too!

Nic Pendleton’s Daughter

A little girl as good looking as this

can only come from Denise’ lineage.

Bernie Sanders

Bernie Sanders enters the fray

for the Office of President

of the United States.

He assumes the fatherly figure

who is experienced to run the government

and concerned about the welfare of the people.

This assumption seems to work for him.

Bernie Sanders.mp4

Einstein’s Gravitational Wave Theory Proven?

The LIGO under the funding of NSF has claimed

that they have proof of this theory

and have published a paper on it!

Now wait a minute!

Wait a effing minute!

The explanation was not convincing

and the experiment as described have all the signs of being faulty.

Give me a couple, or three hours,

to post my views on this….

Don’t get me wrong, though.

Einstein had an uncanny way of being on the right track.

And even if It were not proven, I would believe that he was right.

What I am at odds against is the lackluster way of

explaining how the scientists got the proof.

The device that was used for this experiment is called an interferometer.

This is not a collider, rather it splits a laser beam into two,

 sends one beam towards a mirror and the other to a separate mirror.

Both are bounced back and rejoined at one spot

where their travel time is measured.

Now it so happened that the time travel is different.

So they conclude that a factor shortens the time traveled from one way

and lengthens it the other way.

In other words, they say that there is a shrinkage in one way

and there is a lenghtening on another way.

This is produced by waves of gravity resulting

from the merging of two black holes into one.

This is true. No doubt about it.

But the LIGO people’s explanation has not been very convincing.

In tne first place, the laser beam that was split must each be proven to be

identical at the point of splitting

A lot of properties have to be considered in verifying this.

Also, how can they be sure earth’s gravity,

or even the rotation of the earth,

or tidal waves, or the moon’s gravity has no effect on the experiment.

In the second place,

the graphics have been presented in 2-dimensional pictures.

The heavens are three-dimensional.

The representation might just as well be

an avocado cut in half with the seed still on its seat.

Gravitational Wave.mp4

If the scientists can explain their experiment in simple words,

then no doubt, they are believable.

As Einstein said, “The theory is so simple

that even a child can understand it”

As for me, I would have reran the beam that was rejoined

through another separate splitter and re-collected the beam

twice, or many more times, for accuracy.

Recycling the experiment on the same beam would have a cumulative result

and the final difference in time would have been greater

but more conclusive.

That is, if the interferometer setup is correct.

The Lotto Battle

Using Emmy’s Law,

I nailed three 3-no hits

plus 12 2-no. free plays on 649.

Emmy’s law, however,

missed the Lottomax by half-a-mile,

giving me two 4-no. hits

and a whole lot of 3-no. combinations

with the bonus no. which does not

give back any money.

What happened?

I would blame the extra  combinations

that could win a million dollars for the exact combination.

This extra numbers foul up the trend of the lottomax draws.

They come out with the same odds of winning

as the jackpot number but do not

give out minor prizes as the jackpot number.

They are not thinking well, the game administrators.

Ah, but that statement was not very nice to say.

I take it back.

It was uncalled for.

 They thought out the game well,

otherwise it will not earn the organization that much money.

What I mean is that instead of drawing numbers

to give million dollar prizes

they could have installed two jackpot draws on the same day

with the same minor prizes.

But I can understand the problem if two jackpot draws

were made to split the $60 million prize into two,

and two sets of minor prizes are to be awarded.

The problem would be the software.

And then again we are smart enough to solve this

aren’t we?

Either split the draws or give out  prize money

for 3-no. combination hits

like the 649 system.

EYH?

Ah well, back to the draw-ing keyboard…. 

Consolation

Mayhaps my words about Silver medalist George Li possessing

more technique than sensitivity sank in.

And it is my sincere hope that these word of mine

have not been considered as rude and crude.

He now included in his repertoire the piece that I specified :

the Consolation No. 3 by Franz Liszt.

I did this because this composition was virtually played

better by Chopin than by Liszt.

During those times, Chopin was anemic and therefore

plays with less virtuosity but more romanticism.

A good friend of Chopin, Liszt did accept this comparison

as a challenge, and eventually rebounded with his Un Suspiro.

Both compositions, however, require feelings flowing thru the fingertips.

Consolation No.3.mp4

To either Chopin or Liszt, George Li comes close.

No cigar, of course, and this is not only because he does not smoke cigars.

I admit he has the ability to play with virtuosity,

but this piece requires no controlled temerity,

and much less, a subdued dexterity.

This piece is made to console,

not to caress.

I must say, though, that he has succeeded in

putting even finger pressure on the keyboard.

This is the essential item if one

wants the piano to spin stories to the listeners.

But goodness,what am I saying now—

George Li is one exceptional concert pianist

who probably only need maturity to be romantic.

That is a fact!

These posts are not possible without the excellent video resolution by medici tv.