Jay's Reason

 This will be my shortest blog to date.  There has begun an apparent cultural battle over what matters in recent months. I'm going to weigh in just a little. Since the death of George Floyd, and the growth in attention to the Black Lives Matter movement, a residual good has happened. I've noticed many people who never before indicated that they gave a rats ass about black lives or child sex trafficking now are very concerned about the latter. That's good. It's a horrible thing, and it's a world wide problem. Law enforcement at all levels should continue to work to end it. I hope those same people are as concerned for children who are sexually abused by family members and friends, because that number is much higher and much harder to prosecute. And, it is something we can all do more than just post memes about on Facebook, by teaching our children how to protect themselves and to not be ashamed or afraid to tell, and by being aware of warning signs that we might see,

If my math is correct I should have had eight great great grandfathers. I'm only aware of two that fought in the American Civil War. That doesn't mean others didn't. I'm just not aware of it if they did. Of the two that I know, the only one that I know any details at all about is my "Hicks" great great grandfather, Abner Hicks. I don't know a lot, but I do know that he joined the 11th Regiment, Florida Infantry. He was in a hospital in Richmond for a time, and apparently died either there or at Petersburg, Virginia. I don't know how he died, or what happened to his remains. I do know that one of his nephews tried to get a pension for his wife and children. I don't know if he succeeded. I have no idea what kind of a man he was. I know from census records that he was not a slaveholder. I don't know why he decided to fight in the war. He may have needed the money. Based on my family's history, that would be a good guess. Or, he may have believ

Europa is the smallest of Jupiter's four major (Galilean) moons.  As best we can tell it is covered by a thick icy surface that shields a large liquid saline salt water ocean from Jupiter's lethal radiation. Plumes of water that escape the icy surface would indicate subsurface geological activity, and thus a source of heat for Europa's ocean. Why does this matter? It means that, based on what we know about Europa, and about microscopic life's ability to thrive in similar environments here on Earth, Jupiter's moon could theoretically harbor life. And, if it did, it would, ironically, be another step like the ones that got Galileo in hot water (and house arrest) with the ruling religious authorities of his day. It would be one more small step for mankind toward the realization that the universe does not revolve around human beings. In the story of civilization thus far, we have written ourselves into the lead roles, the main characters. We are why everything else i

Nearly two hundred years ago a poem was published that impacted my life more than any poem ever written. Each December, for the first nine years of my life, I looked forward in childlike wonder to a visit from a jolly old man/elf with the ability to bring me things I wanted; things he and his workers had made, and stamped with the brand names of major manufacturers; things that he was able to transport from the polar regions of the planet via a flying sleigh, pulled by flying reindeer; a sleigh that also carried gifts requested by every boy and girl on the planet; delivered in one magical night. He entered my house through the chimney of the fireplace. The fact that I lived in a house with no fireplace or chimney did not prevent him from doing so. I left him milk and a Mr. Goodbar on the kitchen table, and he never failed to eat and drink my offering of gratitude. I would see him at malls, and on street corners throughout the month of December. The fact that he should be busy making pr

If you don't recognize the title of this blog, review your ancient Bee Gee's history. "Choose your words wisely." - Traditional "Think before you speak." - Traditional "The heart of the righteous weighs its answers, but the mouth of the wicked gushes evil."  - Biblical proverb "Those who guard their mouths and their tongues keep themselves from calamity." - Biblical proverb "Better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak up and remove all doubt." - attributed to Abraham Lincoln, and others “Remember not only to say the right thing in the right place, but far more difficult still, to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment.” - Benjamin Franklin “He who speaks without modesty will find it difficult to make his words good.” - Confucius “Wise men speak because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something.” - Plato           I have always had a great respect and ad

Yes. It really is “all in my head.” Since I’ve had the responsibility of dealing at close range with “dementia meets bipolar disorder” for the past few years, I’ve thought more and more about how our brains work...or don’t. So, while I readily admit I have no more expertise in neurology than the next person, I think a lot about how we historically (and presently) have misconstrued and misunderstood so many things related to our brains. For example, phrases like "you're just imagining things," or "you're just hearing things" as explanations for hallucinations have long been a dismissive approach to what can be very real and serious mental disorders. The key word being "just."  Going back in time, yet still not totally absent in the present, there is the idea that supernatural forces or demonic entities were causes of  behavior we now know to be related to neurological disorders and chemical imbalances in the brain. I think part of humanity’s struggl