The Decline of America in the 21st Century

The Emergence of the Decline of Civility and Intelligence in America in the 21 Century  as Recorded by the Camera

"The Decline of America in the 21 Century" 

This is the title I have given to a series of pictures that I have either taken myself, will take  or they were so good that I copied them. The present picture(copied)  is the front door of P. Ballantine & Sons, Newark New Jersey, a once great brewery and sponsor of the New York Yankees and Philadelphia Athletics in the 20 Century. Now just mold in the cracks of life.

Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.

In Appreciation of Small and Inconspicuous Beauty

In Appreciation of Small and Inconspicuous Beauty

I have walked in the woods and meadows all my life and have passed by obscure little plants and flowers which I cannot identify.  My wife Elaine was the first to bring this beauty to my  attention and awakened my appreciation for the inconspicuous beauty found almost all over the outdoors. My granddaughter Verity I later noticed did the same thing.  

I therefore open this space in my blog to the appreciation of the beauty I learned about from those two dear people.

The tiny white flowers in the lower left of this  picture almost remained unnoticed. 

Blow then make a wish!

Unlike the other flowers on this page this is not wild but was planted by Elaine.  However, the bumble bee is wild.

            Φ ι λ α δ έ λ φ ε ι α

I was born in Philadelphia and lived my first ten years  

there. I played in  Rittenhouse Square as a child.  My family on both sides passed through this

 town. My father's family came here after William Penn opened this land to his

 food in about 1845. This park (or square) goes way back with Penn's plans for 

Philadelphia between the rivers. The Quakers called city blocks squares because

 they usually were square. Everybody I ever knew in Philadelphia is either gone or

 dead. For me it is just a town of memories but these memories helped to make me

 who I am.

This is a picture of the three men I admire most, the Father, Son and Holy Ghost
.
  If you look carefully you can see them. 

  Right behind the the three men you will see the Fairmount Waterworks.  I 

understand that it supplied water to the burghers. It stopped working in

 1909 a few years after my mother was born. I guess they found a 

method to provide water because it always came out of our zink.  

Behind the waterworks you can see the Philadelphia Museum of Art

dominating the Fairmount landscape.

a

This picture is either, a picture of love on one of the most important days

 of their lives.  Or, it could be a commercial photo opportunity.  I, of course

 do know which it is (and I know you do too).  But it is fun to dream, isn't

 it?

Zooming Out in Time

                                  Doctor John Baez




"Zooming Out in Time"  is the title of a FORA TV presentation concerning global warming. The presenter is John Baez a mathematical physicist working on quantum gravity using the techniques of "higher-dimensional algebra." A professor of mathematics at the University of California, Riverside, he enjoys answering physics questions on the usenet newsgroup sci.physics.research, and also writes a regular column entitled This Week's Finds in Mathematical Physics.    The talk is one hour and twenty minutes long but Doctor Baez presents this subject with a magnificent dry wit and although not in his scientific field does quite well with it.  I give the talk a "thumbs-up".


Plant this in the url:  http://fora.tv/2006/10/13/Zooming_Out_in_Time#fullprogram