Small nuclear 2

(cont'd from yesterday's post)

Hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent to come up with innovative designs for nuclear power generating plants. Much of this money came from private investors who see "green" energy (no carbon emissions) as important to the growing global need for power.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) partners with these investors to fund research. 

One company working on their own design (a light water reactor) is NuScale in Oregon. About the size of two school buses vertically stacked, one hundred of them could fit in the containment chamber of a large conventional reactor. 

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One of the new safety features is that it can stand in an underground pool of water. If the reactor leaks, heat is slowly diffused into the water.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission, understandably, has to approve it. NuScale submitted a long 12,000-page application which is still under review by the Commission. But the good news is that NuScale might start supplying power to western states by 2026.

Small new reactors like this might be the only chance nuclear power generation can survive.

(from Wired)

Small nuclear 1

During the last century, most of America's electricity came from coal. But today coal plays a smaller role, replaced by cleaner natural gas. Over the last several decades, the other major source of our power has been nuclear, coming in at about 20%.

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Nuclear power has no carbon emissions and, unlike wind and solar, doesn't vary its production according to the weather. But new nuclear plants take years to build, with costs running into billions of dollars. And about half our nuclear plants are over 40 years old.

Since so many plants are aging, with only one new one going live since 1996, there's concern that this vital segment of our energy production is in decline.

So . . what if we could build a nuclear power plant that was cheaper, smaller, safer? 

"Dozens of nuclear startups are popping up around the country, aiming to solve the well-known problems with nuclear power . . " 

Cont'd tomorrow - one of those new innovations

Rotunda song

New recording artist Edward Byrd had the experience of filling the U.S. Capitol Rotunda with his song while on tour. He was with a group called "Change." They went to the Capitol to tell lawmakers that a bill to outlaw therapy for homosexuals would only hurt those who want to change.

Kids tell it

Enjoy!

Hallelujah

(re-post from 2014)

"Messiah" by George Handel was performed last week in my city. I listened to the performance on public radio a couple days ago, including comments from the announcer about Handel.

There was chuckling and some cynicism about the composer becoming rich.There was debunking of the "myth" that Handel broke into tears at the beauty of the music.

There was amusement at the old-fashioned audience tradition to stand during the "Hallelujah" chorus.  It was suggested that standing is quite unnecessary, and that very likely some of the audience would think it "silly" and would remain seated.

But for a believing Christian, this music goes beyond beauty. The "Hallelujah" chorus is joyous and appropriate - the spirit soars in praise to the Messiah, Jesus Christ. I don't think I could sit through it even if I wanted to.

Someone who had been at the concert called the radio show later to report that the entire audience stood - "without hesitation" he said - for the "Hallelujah" chorus. The radio announcer's cynicism was not shared by the concert audience. On the contrary, they responded from the heart and the spirit.

The whole work (over 2 hours long) is below; find "Hallelujah" at 1:35:58.

MCGA

Atheists had a billboard campaign for the season a few years ago. Their theme was "Make Christmas great again. Skip church!"

So I wonder how this works. Was Christmas great in the past when God was no part of it? If we all skip church, will Christmas be great again? But there's never been a time when the season was empty of God. Since the beginning, its central core has been the birth of Jesus Christ on earth.

photo: mine

I'm glad if atheists can enjoy decorations and traditions. But the joy of Christmas would not last if God were taken out of the season. Eventually nothing would be left but cynical materialism.

There are lots of  cynics who don't have a merry celebration. The good will and beauty of Christmas are just cloying if there's no meaning in it. 

Lux venit

(re-post from 2016)

Built into us by the Creator is a longing to understand God and eternity, to believe there is really hope for humanity:

"By sword, by flame
In death solemn ages passed,
And voices young grow old & weary
Holding fast - hope for the dawning"

The appeal of the Christian good news is that God sought out humanity by sending Jesus Christ who is light for us:

"Lux venit, Sursum corda." Arise, shine! For your light has come!

Those lyrics are from the song below. It's years old, but "Lux Venit" from this album by Michael W. Smith moves me every time I hear it. Enjoy.

Trees, gifts, etc.

Traditions abound at Christmas. Families have their own, sometimes quirky, traditions that make their celebration of Christmas unique. But many are not unique to families, but have been passed down for generations and centuries.

NFL role model

"How did I make this world better?" National League Football (NFL) players have fame, money, and a platform. Some players use these assets to leave an exceptional legacy of good works.

Each of the 32 football teams nominates one of their players to win the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award based on what they do on the field and what they do in their communities.

Kyle Rudolph of the Minnesota Vikings is one of these nominees in 2019. Families thanking Kyle for the difference he made for their children is here. The Vikings won't allow me to embed it, but seriously you should watch it.

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(Btw, I have re-named the "Character" label. Starting today those posts which would have been labeled Character will now bear the "Virtue" label.)

Reasons

(cont'd from yesterday's post)

"[S]ound reason and scientific research—including the very latest discoveries—consistently support, rather than erode, confidence in the truth of the Bible and faith in the personal, transcendent God revealed in both Scripture and nature."

Reasons to Believe makes this claim in their mission statement. Since the Creator gave us both the universe and the Bible, the facts of nature and the Bible's narrative will be consistent and accurate. So they aim for "constructive integration of God’s revelation (in Scripture and nature)" and they aim to communicate "those reasons with gentleness, respect, and a clear conscience." Not a harsh, combative argument.

A scientist from Florida got excited about this message. Here's his story:



Find other stories here.

"Lie" to them

(cont'd from yesterday's post)

But that could be a dilemma for parents who don't believe in God or religion, yet who want their children to be well adjusted. What should they do?

Komisar's advice: lie to them. 

It's a pragmatic solution. If you think there's no God, no life after death, no cosmic purpose, no meaning, nothing more than the material universe--don't tell your kids! Lie to them, tell them God loves them so as to increase the odds that they will be happy.

But wait, there's something better. Instead . . you could take the big questions of life seriously, and investigate God for yourself rather than simply swallow secular conventional wisdom. Possibly you have missed something. How great would it be to find out that the truth is also just what your family needs.

Here's a suggestion to get started. Go to Reasons to Believe. Astrophysicist Dr. Hugh Ross started this organization to show evidence from science that the omnipotent, personal God of the Bible does exist. Nobody's asking you to believe without reasons.

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(cont'd tomorrow)

Depressed kids

Therapist Erica Komisar is often asked to help depressed or anxious children. She offers her view on why it's so common:

"One of the most important explanations—and perhaps the most neglected—is declining interest in religion. This cultural shift already has proved disastrous for millions of vulnerable young people."

Studies have shown for years that people of faith tend to be happier in comparison to most people. So her view on this point is mainstream:

“Children or teens who reported attending a religious service at least once per week scored higher on psychological well-being measurements and had lower risks of mental illness. Weekly attendance was associated with higher rates of volunteering, a sense of mission, forgiveness, and lower probabilities of drug use and early sexual initiation,” she noted of the latest studies on the impact of religion on the mental health of children and teenagers.

(cont'd tomorrow)

Merry Christmas

It's time to say with abandon, "Merry Christmas!" There's no reason that saying it needs to offend anybody.

Tech & defense 2

(cont'd from yesterday's post)

Jeff Bezos' Amazon was competing recently with Microsoft for a $10 billion contract from the U.S. Dept. of Defense, and Microsoft got the deal in November. 

They will build out cloud infrastructure for the Pentagon over ten years under the project name, "Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure" (JEDI).

Unlike Google, Microsoft will do business with America's military. Their CEO puts it this way: "We made a principled decision that we’re not going to withhold technology from institutions that we have elected in democracies to protect the freedoms we enjoy.”

In Bezos' words, "“I know it’s complicated, but do you want a strong national defense or don’t you . . I think you do, so we have to support that.” He says (video below) that the U.S. Military has earned the trust and respect of Americans by doing hard things well for decades.

Tech & defense

Google, enormously rich and influential tech company, will not work for the Department of Defense of the United States. It sounds like a decision based on the moral disapproval of several thousand employees, a judgment of an ethical nature.

But Google does similar work (relating to artificial intelligence) for the military of China. 

Is working to aid the Chinese military okay, but working for the American military is not?

Jeff Bezos has an opinion: big tech should not turn its back on America's defense.



(cont'd tomorrow)

France closing 2

(cont'd from yesterday's post)

The second reason it was the right time last year for us to go to Europe was to see and experience some of the European cathedrals. I felt that they were in danger.

So we attended services at Christ Church Cathedral while in Oxford, England. We listened to the bells chime on the plaza in front of the cathedral in Bayeux, France. 

And . . (thank God) we were blessed to personally experience Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. Only six months later, Notre Dame was in flames, this world treasure and icon of European Christianity from the middle ages (built 1163-1345 A.D.).

France closed 1

Fourteen months ago I was a tourist in France with my niece. The weather was beautiful, we moved around Paris by boat on the River Seine, and we stayed near the Eiffel Tower. 

It seemed then like the right time to go, and for two reasons I think it was the right time. One reason: just a month after we returned home, civil unrest began with the "yellow vests" in Paris and other cities. Now huge strikes are crippling air travel, train, and public services.

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Eurostar, the high-speed train under the English Channel, has canceled ~100 runs recently. Air France grounded at least one-third of its domestic flights. As of last Thursday, the Eiffel Tower was "ferme" (closed). Cafes and restaurants along the route of marches in Paris were ordered to close for the day by police in case of violence on the edges of the demonstrations.

In addition to tourism-related closures, there are strikes of medical workers, police officers, teachers, garbage collectors, etc. The issues for the disruption are financial - the government plans to reform pensions. 

Eleven of the 16 Paris subway lines were closed last week. Tourists in France right now will have to be extra resourceful.

taken from Forbes

(cont'd tomorrow)

Ford v. Ferrari

"Ford v. Ferrari" is just about the perfect film - according to this author. He's confident that the movie gets the 1960's culture at Ford just right . . because his dad was one of Ford's junior executives at the time.

Ford cars were getting boring in the 60's and Henry Ford II wanted to shake things up. So he hired Carroll Shelby to help them build a race car, specifically to beat Ferrari at Le Mans.

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Shelby and his friend/racing driver, Ken Miles, were not exactly models of Ford Men. They clashed with the executives. In one memorable scene, Shelby educates Henry Ford II about race car drivers. (I enjoyed that, as I received a similar education from my son.)

"Ford v. Ferrari is the ultimate popcorn movie, an old-fashioned thriller with blinding speed scenes filmed in-camera, instead of mocked up via CGI. The result is a satisfying melange of buddy film, corporate intrigue yarn, international jet-set glimpse, and good ol’ American ingenuity."

Safety theater 2

(cont'd from yesterday's post)

One of Uber's self-driving test cars struck and killed a pedestrian in March of 2018. A "safety driver" was in the driver seat, as required, but he was not paying attention. It was the first time a pedestrian was ever killed by a self-driving car.

It happened just five days after Robbie Miller (yesterday's post) emailed other Uber executives with a safety warning. He was alarmed that the company’s self-driving test cars were “routinely in accidents resulting in damage” and that collisions occurred “every 15,000 miles.”

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Some claim that hundreds of millions of miles of test-driving must be done before we have reliable data about whether self-driving cars are safer than human-driven cars. Yet this kind of testing has only been going on for a few years, amounting to just a few million miles.

One of the best automotive blogs says:

"Automakers have begun leveling with us about vehicular autonomy. After years of promises that self-driving cars were just around the corner, the vision rollback has begun. Testing has taken longer than anticipated and nobody is as close to unleashing a commercial product as they hoped to be."

Safety theater 1

Self-driving cars are coming soon and they're much safer for humans. So goes the current narrative.

It's not just relatively new companies like Uber and Tesla that tell this story. Even General Motors CEO Mary Barra says self-driving cars can significantly avoid accidents and crashes caused by human behavior, and eventually lead to safer transportation. All the big car companies are heavily invested and working hard on this.

Almost all of us welcome the story, want to believe it. Who wouldn't want to take a nap or read a book while the car gets us safely to our destination. And yet, this far into the movement, there's a counter narrative. 

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Robbie Miller— the former Uber executive who, just days before an autonomous Uber struck and killed a pedestrian, warned the company of problems with their self-driving cars—says that the industry has “propelled us into the realm of safety theater—meaning creating the illusion of safety instead of actually delivering on safety.”

(cont'd tomorrow)

Students & God

Will Witt asks good questions, the kind we think about but don't ask:  Do students believe in God? Does religion help make a person happy?

Will is at Arizona State University in this video, presenting these personal questions to college students. He found both believers and non-believers. I was a little surprised by the students who do believe in God and how they expressed it.

Thankful 5

Since complaining seems to come easier for us than "thanksgiving," we might have to make gratitude a conscious, intentional choice. 

It's the Monday after Thanksgiving holiday, so now we learn to practice it during our non-holiday lives. 

I want to notice all the good things before I work on fixing the rest.

Landen

To follow up on Thursday's post:  the story of Landen goes on. His parents have another message for all of us who follow it:

“Please continue to pray for complete recovery as we are still healing! We love you!”

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Thankful 4

Did you count your blessings this week? Here are a few good ones you may have missed:

1) "You get to choose your attitude." Sickness, unjust opposition, trouble, may be yours, but "none of this changes the fact that you, and you alone, have the power to choose how you will respond. This might seem like a small thing, but it is one of the greatest powers that any of us has. How you use it will determine the course of your life and the essence of your legacy."

2) "You can read, so you can learn." Since you're reading this, you know that "you can plumb the depths of history’s most inspiring personalities. From Jesus Christ, to Abraham Lincoln, to Mother Theresa, you can read about the attitudes, words, and actions that changed the course of history."

3) "The world is a fascinating place, full of goodness, truth, and beauty. . . Nature is endlessly amazing. People are inherently interesting."

Go here for more.

Thankful 3

Five-year-old Landen nearly died seven months ago. He was picked up and thrown over a railing forty feet high at Mall of America by a murderous stranger. Over the summer he had 15 medical procedures for broken bones, a stomach wound, trauma to his head.

Many have prayed for him in addition to his Christian family. He's now out of the hospital, out of intense therapy, and into kindergarten.

A family friend gives this report on the family's GoFundMe page:

“He loves being back in school and going to kindergarten at the same school his twin brother and sister go to. He gets out of the car every morning happy and blows kisses all the way in!

“He’s a strong, happy boy. When his mommy asks him if she can look at his wound or asks how he’s doing, he always responds with, ‘Mom, I’m healed, you don’t need to ask me anymore.’

“Landen loves life and Jesus! He tells people all the time when they get hurt, ‘Don’t worry, I fell off a cliff, but angels caught me and Jesus loves me. I’m OK and you will be too.’”

Thank God.

Thankful 2

One of my favorite "thankful" stories is this re-post from 2016:

Friday, May 27, 2016

Grateful

Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam, surrendered to the armies of the North on April 30, 1975. A man with twelve children watched fear, secrecy and hunger become their life. One day his daughter told him she was leaving.

He begged her to take one of his younger sons. Two days later on a dark night she took her little brother and her 3-year old and became a refugee with no country and no security.

"After eight months in refugee camp, perfect strangers at a church in Knoxville, Tennessee, sponsored her to come to the Dream Land." And that's how this refugee mother with her first child and her brother came to America. She survived it all.

Her second daughter, Adrienne, feels deep gratitude for what her mom did. "From the moment I entered this world as your second baby girl, I have never wanted for anything. Heaven willing, I will never know the hunger and desperation that defined your twenties. . with all the privileges I have as a healthy young woman with a Yale degree, nothing I accomplish can compare to what you’ve done."

Adrienne sums it up this way, "I have grown up so comfortably eating the fruits of your suffering."

Thankful 1

At the age of 17, Seojun escaped North Korea by swimming a river. He had nothing but his clothes and a jacket. Exhausted and lonely, just a teenager, he looked for food and for jobs to keep himself alive.

Courage and grit kept him going til he found a safe house. Watch his story.

Bias framing

One way to influence other people's opinions is to withhold information that would counter your argument. If the picture you paint for others is framed to your advantage, they can be fooled.

Everyone does it - that is, everyone frames the argument the way they see it.

But if you are the audience, make sure you ask some questions. Is anything important being left out of the way they frame it?

Classy tweet

Ford is introducing a new electric vehicle, the Mustang Mach-E. The company tweeted: "Zero gas. Zero emissions. 100% exhilaration. Tap to be among the first to reserve the all-new, all-electric #MustangMachE."

Elon Musk responded with a congratulations message: "Congratulations on the Mach E! Sustainable/electric cars are the future!! Excited to see this announcement from Ford, as it will encourage other carmakers to go electric too."

It was the right sort of response. Competition (with fair play of course) makes better products. Elon genuinely thinks EV's are best for both the environment and people. His response to new competition is civil good sportsmanship.

It's game on, just as he likes it.

Macy's decline

Macy's has a great retail history, but this author now calls it "the poster child for everything that is wrong with mall-based retail."

Same-store sales were down in the third quarter compared with a year ago, in contrast to  Target stores which were up for the same period. It looks like Macy's is losing sales to T.J. Maxx and Marshall's, and their stock is just half of what it was last January.

Retail stores in general have been declining for years. So how is Target increasing? By tweaking their strategies, trying ideas. They get "shoppers in the door to pick up groceries and household items and convince them to shop for apparel while they are there."

When the former chairman and CEO of Macy's was recently "asked which retail stocks he liked, he spoke enthusiastically about buying Walmart, Target and Home Depot."

Adoptive

Adoptive parents freely choose to take on the responsibility for a child's life without guarantees of any kind for the future. Freddie Figgers was abandoned as a baby by his biological parents, but his adoptive parents took their place and gave him a family.

No one knows what innate abilities a baby possesses. But this gifted child built and repaired computers as a teenager, then started a cloudbase in his backyard.

As it turned out, Freddie had the interest, talent and drive to turn his tech ability into a $62 million business before the age of 30.



from this article

Religious freedom 5

(cont'd from yesterday's post)

Some churches have stood against the demands of the government, but the people of those churches will pay a price. "Some congregations have been threatened to be blacklisted by the government, meaning that their travels will be restricted and schooling and future employment of their offspring will be impeded . . "

How brave are those believers, when defying the government (refusing to replace the Ten Commandments with communist quotes) could mean their children will suffer. Remember, social surveillance cameras are watching every worship service.

“China is a one-party dictatorship. People are only allowed to obey the Communist Party and be controlled by it. We have no freedom at all,” [one anonymous] believer said helplessly.

Where churches have been destroyed or social pressure oppresses, Christians continue to meet for prayer and worship in unlikely places: cemeteries, on buses, in pigsties - or on the rubble of their church.

Religious freedom 4

China's President Xi Jinping opposes religious freedom. But he doesn't close every Christian church. Instead, the government is forcing elimination of Christian core beliefs. 

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Churches must now remove the Ten Commandments. Other words must replace the word of God . . Xi Jinping quotations. 

The new directive reportedly comes after Three-Self churches were initially told to remove the First Commandment, “You shall have no gods before me,” as Jinping disagreed with it. 

Why does he "disagree" with the first commandment? He demands the pre-eminent position for himself: all loyalty, all power.

from Catholic News Agency

(cont'd tomorrow)

Shanghai giga

The third of Tesla's gigafactories is getting attention now. Located in Shanghai, China, it's about to start production of Model 3 and  Model Y cars, and electric batteries.

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Completion of the plant took just 168 days from start to finish. By the end of this year, Elon Musk predicts, 1000 cars will be rolling out every week. There's a good market in China for electric vehicles (EV's), second only to the U.S. 

Tesla was warmly welcomed to China. Their cars are exempted from the general ten percent sales tax on cars, a perk formerly only enjoyed by Chinese manufacturers of EV's. And there's that fast track new factory. "When they want to, they can push things through very quickly."

from Bloomberg

Giga life 2

(cont'd from yesterday's post)

Yesterday's graphic showed that Tesla's first gigafactory will eventually expand to about ten million square feet. Nevada will have to continue to adapt to the presence of the gigafactory.

It's about trade-offs. Emergency services and shortage of housing have challenged the region, but there are also benefits.

Because Tesla needs a skilled workforce, they're funding science and engineering programs at local schools. A better educated populace is an undeniable benefit.

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One 19-year-old employee from Las Vegas began her job at $14.50/hour but has raised her ambitions. Tesla is paying for technician training for her, and she now aims to be an engineer. She says, "Tesla kind of helped me figure out myself."

Thousands of new jobs (with average pay of $30/hour) have arrived in northern Nevada, and Tesla is helping people learn enough to do them. As for the new load on local government services (roads, emergency calls, etc.), eventually the tax deal Tesla got from the state will run out . . and the state will be taking in millions of tax dollars from their famous new resident business.

Giga life 1

Nevada fought hard for the privilege of being the site of the first Tesla "gigafactory." Eventually they won the competition, offering Tesla a quick turnaround on construction permits and the biggest tax abatement package in the state's history, to the tune of $1.3 billion.

The project moved fast, with operations starting even before it was finished. In fact, five years into construction and half a mile long, it's still not finished. Huge as it is, it will more than double its size in the future. Over 7,000 people are employed there now. 

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It was a big gulp for northern Nevada and there have been problems. About three times per month there's a health/safety incident. OSHA inspectors made 90 visits during the factory's first three years. On average, in 2018 a 911 call was made every day. Local emergency services were beefed up.

Local housing was not adequate. Some employees live in RV's parked at the Walmart or in tents. Elon Musk says this housing shortage is their biggest constraint on growth. They might build some sort of housing compound for employees.

from usatoday

(cont'd tomorrow)

Vegas tunnel

Las Vegas will be the site of Elon Musk's The Boring Company's very first paying customer. Its big convention center is expanding to 200 acres with a two-mile walk to go from one end to the other end.

Two tubes running autonomous electric vehicles and one pedestrian tube will come equipped with WiFi, video surveillance, escalators. They will run underneath Las Vegas Convention Center to make getting around much faster for visitors. 

Digging started when the tunnel boring machine (TBM) arrived on site in October. The whole project should be ready for the Consumer Electronics Show in January of 2021.

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Protecting

A young American woman was in Afghanistan conducting two-week training workshops for nationals who worked for the American Foreign Service during the Bush presidency.

The embassy was attacked by the Taliban one day, and she found herself in the middle of a gunfire battle for four hours. 

She credits the tired young men (19-21 years old) who were protecting the embassy with saving her life and the lives of the others. It's a gratitude she still feels today toward the American veterans who risk their lives to protect and serve.

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