EL UNIVERSO. ¿HAY UN CREADOR? Para poner la cuestión en una forma más directa: "¿Cree usted en Dios?" Aunque todavía está en una etapa infantil, la humanidad ha ganado una cantidad considerable de conocimientos sobre el funcionamiento del Universo. Esta información acelerada sólo se inició en los últimos 500 años. En el 1600 Galileo hizo la declaración, "Nuestro mundo no es el centro del Universo, sino sólo uno de los planetas de nuestro sistema solar". Hoy en día con el telescopio Hubble que orbita alrededor de la tierra, (libre de obstrucción por parte de la atmósfera de la Tierra), podemos ver galaxias con miles de millones de estrellas en cada una de ellas. Nuestro propio sistema solar es una parte muy pequeña de la galaxia “Vía Láctea”, uno de los miles de millones de galaxias en el Universo. Y, en el 1700 Sir Isaac Newton, descubrió la fuerza de la gravedad. Este es un concepto muy importante en el funcionamiento del Universo. A pesar de que la Tierra está a 93.000.000 de kilómetros del Sol, y en su órbita alrededor del Sol gira a una velocidad media de 67,000 mph. ¿Por qué la Tierra no sale lanzada fuera de su órbita en el espacio, debido a la gran fuerza centrífuga que se genera? La razón es que la fuerza de gravedad contraresta y equilibra esta fuerza centrífuga. La gravedad es directamente proporcional al producto de las masas del Sol y la Tierra, e inversamente proporcional al cuadrado de la distancia entre ellos. El Sol tiene una masa 333.000 veces más grande que la de la Tierra. Luego, más tarde, en el 1800 Michael Faraday publicó su trabajo sobre la electricidad y el magnetismo. Ahora sabemos que el Sol emite tormentas y vientos de radiación solar. Estos vientos de radiación emitida por el Sol llegan en el Universo 1000 veces más lejos que la distancia de la Tierra. Por suerte para nosotros los terrícolas, la tierra tiene un campo magnético (del polo sur al polo norte) lo suficientemente fuerte como para desviar los vientos solares fuera de la periferia de la atmósfera de la Tierra. Esto ocurre la mayoría del tiempo. Además, una capa de ozono en nuestra atmósfera nos protege de los rayos ultravioletas del sol. Recientemente, a principios del siglo 20, Albert Einstein, probó matemáticamente que la materia y la energía son intercambiables. Esta es la conocida fórmula E = M c², siendo c la velocidad de la luz. Trágicamente, esta teoría fue demostrada en el bombardeo atómico de Hiroshima y Nagasaki durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial. La teoría generalmente aceptada por la mayoría de los cosmólogos sobre cómo empezó el Universo se basa en la teoría del “Big Bang". Hace aproximadamente 13.700 millones de años, una partícula muy pequeña con energía infinita comenzó a inflar el Universo con neutrones, protones y electrones. Unos 300.000 años después del Big Bang, los protones y núcleos atómicos comenzaron a captar electrones. Los protones tienen carga positiva. Los electrones, con carga negativa, comenzaron a orbitar en torno a estos protones, formando los primeros átomos. Hay un espacio comparativamente grande entre los protones y los electrones en órbita. Sin este espacio, el edificio Empire State entero podría derrumbarse en un volumen no mayor que un grano de arena. Estas partículas de polvo se fueron fusionando y formaron los cuerpos celestes del Universo (concentrados en las galaxias), tales como estrellas, planetas, lunas, etc. Observando sobre todo el color rojo en estas estrellas, los físicos concluyen que el Universo está en una fase continua de expansión. Esto no puede continuar para siempre. La gravedad detendrá la expansión actual y, finalmente, todas las estrellas comenzarán a desaparecer. El espacio oscurecerá de nuevo con estrellas muertas y sepultadas en "agujeros negros". Esto se postula como la teoría del "Big Crunch". Los físicos estiman que esto va a suceder después de mucho, mucho tiempo, alrededor de 10¹ºº años. ¿Comenzará el Universo de nuevo? O, ¿Han existido otros universos antes del "Big Bang"? Nuestro sistema solar, ubicado en la Vía Láctea, es sólo una pequeña parte de los miles de millones de otros cuerpos celestes en esta galaxia. Nuestro sol es una estrella de tamaño medio. La edad del sol es alrededor de 4,6 millones de años. El interior del sol se compone de su núcleo (la zona radioactiva), y la zona de convección. La luz y el calor se escapan hacia el espacio, más allá de la capa exterior de la fotosfera. El sol se compone principalmente de hidrógeno y una pequeña cantidad de helio. En el núcleo del sol se producen reacciones nucleares continuas, equivalentes a la explosión de 10 millones de bombas de hidrógeno por segundo. El sol produce helio a partir de hidrógeno en estas explosiones, generando una cantidad colosal de energía. La fotosfera exterior se convierte en una capa de plasma (gas ionizado). Las llamaradas solares se forman por la vibración del plasma que forma bucles alrededor de la superficie del sol. Esos bucles se cargan magnéticamente. Como el campo magnético en el interior del sol es cambiante, los bucles se cargan negativa o positivamente. Un bucle típico es lo suficientemente grande como para que quepa una esfera del tamaño de la Tierra a través de él. Cuando dos bucles de carga opuesta entran en contacto, se produce una explosión. Entonces el sol envía fuera tormentas de vientos solares cargados magnéticamente hacia el espacio. Por lo general, llegan a la atmósfera terrestre con una carga magnética igual a la carga magnética alrededor de la tierra. Polos iguales se repelen. Por lo tanto los vientos solares se desvían principalmente fuera de la capa de la atmósfera terrestre. Si esta colisión se produjese con cargas opuestas, se crearían fuertes tormentas eléctricas resultando grandes cortes de energía eléctrica, especialmente en las ciudades densamente pobladas de la tierra. Los transformadores y las líneas de transporte y distribución serían destruidos. Tomaría meses de reparaciones y sustituciones para restituir la energía. Hoy en día estos vientos solares están poniendo en peligro a los cientos de satélites que orbitan la Tierra. Al igual que los informes del tiempo, hay informes para advertir a los operadores de satélites que los desactiven antes de que las fuerzas magnéticas lleguen a destruirlos. Estas erupciones solares son visibles como las auroras en el hemisferio norte en lugares como Alaska y otros países. Durante la Guerra Civil, se registraron auroras visibles incluso en el centro de los Estados Unidos. Al igual que otras estrellas, al sol se le agotará el hidrógeno. Entonces se expandirá como un globo en el espacio y destruirá todos los planetas y las lunas de nuestro sistema solar debido al intenso calor generado en la expansión de la superficie exterior del Sol. El sol va a morir. Sin embargo, no hay necesidad de preocuparse. Es decir, a menos que estemos en la tierra 4.000 millones de años a partir de ahora. El Sol tiene nueve planetas y 140 lunas que orbitan alrededor de de estos planetas cerca de ellos. Los llamados planetas "Rocky" o planetas rocosos, según su distancia más cercana al sol, son: Mercurio, Venus, Tierra y Marte. Después de Marte, los planetas llamados gaseosos, en el mismo orden de cercanía al Sol, son: Júpiter, Saturno, Urano, Neptuno y Plutón. El Cinturón de Asteroides es una región de espacio entre las órbitas de Marte y Júpiter que contiene millones de asteroides. Los astrónomos piensan que el Cinturón de Asteroides está hecho de material que nunca fue capaz de formar un planeta, o de los restos de un planeta que se rompió hace mucho tiempo. El tamaño de estos asteroides varía entre los muy pequeños (como 1 km de diámetro) hasta el más grande llamado Ceres, que tiene untamaño alrededor de un cuarto del tamaño de nuestra luna. Venus es un planeta un poco más pequeño que la Tierra, pero salvajemente diferente. Es un mundo seco, con una superficie abrasadora de alrededor de 860 grados F. A diferencia de la Tierra no tiene placas tectónicas en movimiento de manera que la superficie del planeta tiende a moverse hacia arriba o hacia abajo. Debido a que cuenta con cientos de volcanes, el 85% de la superficie es de baja altitud con llanuras volcánicas compuestas de vastas zonas de inundación de lava. ¿Por qué es esto así? Creo que la gravedad del Sol es tan grande que actúa sobre Venus como si fuera una pelota de goma. Los vientos pueden alcanzar las 250 mph. La atmósfera está compuesta en un 97% por dióxido de carbono. Marte, el planeta más allá de la Tierra, se llama el planeta rojo por su color de óxido rojo. Aunque Marte es hoy un planeta seco, se observan evidencias de que en su superficie alguna vez fluyó el agua líquida. En algún momento después de la creación del Sistema Solar, el planeta Marte perdió su campo magnético. Por ello, pueden penetrar vientos de radiación solar a través de la atmósfera de Marte que secan la superficie del planeta. Se originan fuertes vientos que producen tormentas de polvo que cubren vastas áreas del planeta. Parecidos a los tornados, los "diablos de polvo" son frecuentes pero, a diferencia de los tornados, estos vientos arremolinados disparan el polvo hacia la atmósfera. Debido a que Marte es más pequeño que la Tierra y más lejano del Sol, su gravedad en la superficie es sólo alrededor del 38% de la de nuestro planeta. Al igual que Venus, la atmósfera está dominada por el dióxido de carbono. Júpiter, el vecino exterior de Marte, es el mayor planeta de nuestro Sistema Solar. La atmósfera de Júpiter es principalmente hidrógeno. Su volumen es 1.300 veces mayor que el de la Tierra. Sorprendentemente, la gravedad de Júpiter es sólo 2,5 veces la gravedad de la Tierra. Aunque un Día de la Revolución en este planeta tiene sólo 10 horas de duración, un período orbital alrededor del Sol dura casi 12 años. Las tormentas en Júpiter puede generar vientos de 250 millas por hora. Un punto rojo en este planeta, visible durante muchos años por los observatorios en la Tierra, se cree que fue una gran tormenta que duró unos 300 años. Cuenta con un campo magnético tan poderoso que la mayoría de los asteroides errantes del cinturón de asteroides aterrizan en Júpiter, protegiendo así la vida de la Tierra. Saturno, aunque no tan grande, sigue teniendo 760 veces el volumen de la Tierra. Es otro planeta frío gaseoso con una temperatura media de -220 grados F. La atmósfera es principalmente de gas amoníaco en la parte superior e hidróxido de amonio debajo de ella. Saturno tiene tormentas eléctricas continuas en todo el planeta. El ruido de un rayo se transmitió a la Tierra por un observador orbital mecánico puesto en órbita desde la Tierra. Los anillos visibles que rodean Saturno son en realidad partículas congeladas de hielo, algunas tan grandes como asteroides. Por ahora, el planeta Tierra parece ser el único planeta donde la vida ha florecido. Al igual que otros planetas, ha sufrido cambios violentos desde el momento de su creación. Hace cerca de 4,5 millones de años, durante la formación temprana del sistema solar, hubo muchos más planetas que hay hoy. Mientras orbitaban alrededor del Sol, muchos de estos planetas colisionaron. El propio planeta Tierra chocó con otro planeta, pero fue una colisión lateral por suerte para nuestra Tierra, que sobrevivió, pero esta colisión hizo que nuestro planeta tenga una temperatura más alta por debajo de la superficie. Las placas tectónicas de la Tierra flotan ahora en un lecho de lava líquida. Algunos de los restos de aquella colisión se rompieron formando algunos de los asteroides que han orbitado alrededor de la Tierra. Finalmente, la gravedad unió la mayor parte de estos asteroides formando nuestra Luna. La Tierra también fue continuamente bombardeada por otros asteroides, meteoritos, etc, y como resultado creció en tamaño. Existe la teoría de que estos asteroides trajeron el agua a la Tierra. La Tierra en un tiempo estaba completamente cubierta de agua. La actividad volcánica bajo los océanos hizo emerger las islas y los continentes. Este proceso de construcción de las masas de tierra por encima de la superficie del agua en la Tierra está todavía en curso. La actividad volcánica se ve hoy en islas como Hawai y continúa aportando lava en algunas costas. Las placas tectónicas flotantes han alterado el contorno de la parte emergida de la Tierra. Cuando las placas se separan se forman nuevos continentes. Parece que las costas occidentales de África y las partes orientales de América del Sur y del Norte encajan como un rompecabezas. Este movimiento creó el Océano Atlántico. Cuando las placas tectónicas se encuentran, las masas de tierra se levantan. La isla de la India chocó con Asia y el resultado fue la formación de la cordillera del Himalaya. La presencia de agua, oxígeno, carbono, aminoácidos, etc fue lo que propagó la vida en la Tierra. Los fósiles observados en rocas antiguas apuntan a la vida en la Tierra de organismos simples como bacterias, hace 3,8 millones de años. Una vez que la vida en esta forma rudimentaria había comenzado, siguieron inevitablemente durante millones de años procesos tales como la mutación y la selección natural. Esto dio lugar a una colección de formas de vida de creciente diversidad y complejidad. La mayoría de los mamíferos desarrollaron ojos. Esto se debió a las leyes de la naturaleza "predador / presa". Aunque Charles Darwin tenía razón en que el hombre evolucionó de los simios, la gran pregunta es: "¿Por qué somos los únicos mamíferos que evolucionaron como seres racionales capaces de tener el libre albedrío para hacer el bien o el mal?" Durante la formación de especies de vida en el planeta, muchas incidencias colosales han ocurrido continuamente. Hace un millón de años, un asteroide chocó contra la Tierra, en la región de Yucatán, estallando con una energía comparable a la de mil bombas atómicas. Los asteroides pueden tener más de 25 millas de longitud. Esta explosión contaminó la Tierra con radiación y supuso cambios en las condiciones climáticas durante muchos años. La mayoría de las plantas y animales no sobrevivieron. Esto también causó la extinción de los dinosaurios en nuestro planeta. La Tierra ha pasado al menos 12 Edades de Hielo, donde la mayoría de esas veces ha quedado cubierta de hielo por completo. La existencia de la humanidad en la Tierra no es más que una referencia a la hora de buscar a la edad de nuestra Tierra. No obstante, en comparación con otros planetas de nuestro sistema solar, estamos verdaderamente bendecidos viviendo actualmente en nuestro hogar, la Tierra. El Universo es una colección de miles de millones de galaxias. Para comprender el funcionamiento del Universo es necesario comprender cómo se forman las galaxias. Después del "Big Bang", las nubes de polvo comenzaron a girar alrededor del centro de cada galaxia. Este centro es una zona oscura, llamada "Agujero Negro". Se comenzó a llamar "negro" porque nadie ha visto en su interior. Debido a las fuerzas gravitatorias casi infinitas en este agujero, los rayos de luz se curvan tanto que la luz no puede escapar de esta área del agujero Negro. La mayoría de los agujeros negros ocupan un volumen unos mil millones de veces más grande que nuestro sol. Dado que hay un punto singular de gravedad, posiblemente infinita, dentro de cada agujero negro, los físicos tienen problemas para descubrir cómo los agujeros negros trabajan en el Universo. Usando las ecuaciones matemáticas existentes para averiguar cómo se comportan los agujeros negros en el Universo, se llega a conclusiones sin sentido. Tenemos que descubrir mejores postulados matemáticos. Los agujeros negros son cruciales en la formación de estrellas, planetas, lunas, etc, en una galaxia. Los cuerpos celestes orbitan alrededor del centro de estos agujeros negros. Las grandes estrellas, llamadas Super Nova, también se forman a partir de partículas de polvo. Estas grandes estrellas consumen hidrógeno mucho más rápidamente que otras estrellas más pequeñas. Cuando mueren, se expanden en tamaño. Debido al intenso calor generado en su superficie cuando se expanden, devoran otros cuerpos celestes cuando entran en contacto con ellos. La anterior Super Nova se transforma entonces en una esfera de mucho menor tamaño que la estrella original. Esta estrella de menor tamaño se llama estrella de neutrones. La gravedad comprime continuamente esta estrella de neutrones y en consecuencia se genera en su interior un intenso calor. Finalmente, la estrella explota y libera un conjunto de partículas de polvo en el Universo, llamado nebulosa. En realidad, esto se puede ver con potentes telescopios desde la Tierra, incluso Nebulosas a más de un millón de años luz de distancia. En un segundo la luz viaja siete veces alrededor de la Tierra. Por lo tanto, lo que vemos hoy en una nebulosa existente podría ser la formación de esta galaxia en las primeras etapas de la creación. Las partículas de polvo de estas nebulosas finalmente forman los cuerpos celestes que contienen todos los elementos, idénticos a lo que tenemos aquí en la Tierra. Si miras a tu alrededor, incluyéndote a ti mismo, todos estamos hechos de los mismos átomos y moléculas que estuvieron una vez en una estrella. Nuestras verdaderas madres son las estrellas. La mayoría de los seres humanos creen en un Ser Supremo. ¿Por qué es esto así? ¿Es esto porque la fe es innata en los seres humanos? ¿O es porque los seres humanos temen a la muerte, lo desconocido más allá? Hace años aquí en los EE.UU., William Miller declaró que el fin del mundo llegaría el 5 de abril de 1843. Decenas de miles de devotos seguidores, llamados Milleritas, esperaban la llegada del Armagedón. Cuando 1843 llegó y pasó sin la llegada del fin de los días, el movimiento millerita se dividió en varios grupos. Un gran movimiento millerita se reagrupó en 1863 y cambió su nombre por el de Adventistas del Séptimo Día, que hoy cuenta con cerca de 14 millones de miembros bautizados. Otro grupo escindido de los milleritas se desvió hacia la obra de Charles Russel, quien aplazó la fecha del día del juicio final hasta 1874. Cuando esa fecha también pasó, revisó su predicción, esta vez hasta 1914. Este grupo más tarde se llamaría Testigos de Jehová, con más de 6 millones de seguidores. No es de extrañar que Lenin hiciera la declaración, "La religión es el opio del pueblo". ¿En qué estaba Lenin pensando? Por desgracia, el hombre ha incorporado muchas de sus fantasías en todas las religiones, (en mi opinión). Recordemos la historia de todos los sufrimientos, los prejuicios, e incluso muertes a través de guerras, todo en nombre de la religión. ¡Esto sigue ocurriendo hoy mismo! Sin embargo, algunas de estas fantasías pueden tener validez. Los historiadores recogen un gran terremoto cerca de la costa del sur de Europa en la época de Moisés. Como hemos experimentado recientemente, un tsunami es el resultado de tales terremotos; el agua se aleja de la costa y vuelve con venganza generando grandes olas. ¿Es así como Moisés y sus seguidores cruzaron el Mar Rojo, y los egipcios en su persecución se ahogaron por las olas de un tsunami? Me gustaría hacer hincapié en la diferencia entre religión y espiritualidad. Una persona espiritual cree en Dios porque su fe le convence de que hay un Ser Supremo. Muchos físicos están maravillados con la creación del Universo, porque creen en un Creador. Están buscando a un Dios de orden, no a un Dios de milagros. Hay muchas personas a lo largo de la historia e incluso en la actualidad, dedicando su vida a servir a la humanidad. Algunos sirven a través de sus afiliaciones religiosas pero otros no tienen ninguna afiliación religiosa en absoluto. Concluyo este artículo citando el Credo de Nicea, que era una oración por los romanos cuando se convirtieron a la fe cristiana: "Credo in unum Deum, Patrem omnipotentem, factorem caeli et terrae, et omnium visibilium en visiblium”. (Creo en un solo Dios, Padre todopoderoso, Creador del cielo y la tierra, y de todas las cosas, visibles e invisibles). Referencias: www.nasa.gov/topics/universe/index.html www.history.com/shows/The-Universe Tony Villanueva Junio de 2012

THE UNIVERSE ; IS THERE A CREATOR?; To put the question in a more direct way; “Do you believe in God?” Although still at an infantile stage, mankind has gained a considerable amount of knowledge on the workings of the Universe. This accelerated information was initiated only in the past 500 years. In the 1600’s Galileo made the statement, “Our world is not the center of the Universe, but just one of the planets in our solar system”. Today with the Hubble telescope orbiting around the earth, (free of obstruction from the Earth’s atmosphere), we can look at Galaxies with billions of stars in each of them. Our own Solar system is a very small part of the Milky Way Galaxy, one of the billions of Galaxies in this Universe. And, in the 1700’s Sir Isaac Newton discovered the force of Gravity. This is a very major concept on the workings of the Universe. Although the Earth is 93,000,000 miles from the sun, it orbits the sun at an average speed of 67,000 mph. Why doesn’t the Earth fling out of orbit in space due to this huge centrifugal force being generated? The reason is that the force of gravity counter balances this centrifugal force. Gravity is directly proportional to the product of the Sun’s and the Earth’s mass divided by the square of the distance between them. The Sun has a mass 333,000 times bigger than that of the Earth. Then later, in the 1800 Michael Faraday published his work on electricity and magnetism. We now know the Sun emits solar (radiation) storm winds. This radiation winds emitted by the Sun reaches as far away in the Universe 1000 times further out the distance from the Earth. Lucky for us earthlings, the earth has a magnetic field (south to north pole) strong enough to divert these solar winds outside the pheriphery of the earth’s atmosphere. This happens most of the time. Also, an ozone layer in our atmosphere protects us from the Sun’s ultraviolet rays. Recently, in the early in the1900th Albert Einstein mathematically proved that matter and energy are interchangeable. This is his well known formula E = M(c squared), c being the speed of light. Tragically, this theory was demonstrated in the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II. The general accepted theory by most cosmologists on how the Universe started is founded on “The Big Bang Theory”. About 13.7 billion years ago, a very minute particle with infinite energy burst out inflating the Universe with neutrons, protons and electrons. Some 300,000 years after the Big Bang, protons and atomic nuclei began to capture electrons. Protons are positively charged. Electrons (negatively charged) began to orbit around these protons, forming the first atoms. There is a comparatively large space between these protons and the orbiting electrons. Without this space, the whole Empire State building could collapse to a size no larger than a single grain of sand. These dust particles eventually coalesced and formed the celestial bodies (concentrated in galaxies) such as stars, planets, moons, etc in the Universe. Observing mostly the red color in these stars, physicists conclude the Universe is in a continual stage of expanding. This cannot go on forever. Gravity will stop this current expansion and eventually all stars will begin to die out. Space will be dark again with died out stars entombed in “black holes”. This then is postulated as “The Big Crunch” theory. They estimate this will happen in many years about 10 to the 100th power. Will the Universe start again? Or, were there other Universes before “The Big Bang”? Our solar system located in the Milky Way Galaxy is only a small part of billions of other celestial bodies in this galaxy. Our sun is just an averaged sized star. The sun is about 4.6 billion years old. The sun’s interior consists of its core (the radioactive zone), and the convective zone. Light and heat escape onto space at the outer photosphere layer. The sun is made up mostly of hydrogen and a small amount of helium. In the sun’s core, nuclear reactions take place (equivalent to 10 million hydrogen bombs of explosion every second). The sun produces helium from hydrogen in these explosions. The sun generates a colossal amount of energy. The exterior photosphere becomes a layer of plasma (ionized gas). Solar flares are formed by vibrating plasma which results in the forming of loops around the sun’s surface. These loops are charged magnetic fields. Due to the changing magnetic field inside the sun, these flare-loops could either be charged negative or positive. A typical loop is large enough to have an earth sized sphere go thru it. When these flare loops of opposite charge come in contact, an explosion results. The sun then sends off magnetically charged solar (storm) winds out in space. They usually arrive in the earth’s atmosphere with liked magnetic charge as the magnetic charge around the earth. Like poles repel. Therefore solar winds are diverted mostly outside the earth’s top atmosphere layer. If this collision met on opposite charges, they will create strong electrical explosions resulting in power black outs, especially in earth’s highly populated cities. Transformers, transmission lines, etc. will be destroyed. It will take months of repair and replacements to restore power. Today these solar winds are endangering the hundreds of satellites orbiting the Earth. Similar to a weather report, they are reported so as to warn satellite operators to shut these operating satelites off before magnetic forces destroy them. These solar flares are visible as auroras in the northern hemisphere in such places as Alaska and other northern countries. At one time during the the Civil War, auroras were recorded visible even in the middle United States. Just like other stars; the sun will eventually run out hydrogen. The sun will then expand like a balloon in space. The Sun will destroy all the planets and moons in our solar system due to the intense heat generated at the Sun’s expanding outer surface. The sun will die! However, there is no need to worry! That is, unless you plan to be in this earth 4 billion years from now. The sun has nine distinct planets and 140 moons orbiting these planets. The so called “rocky” planets, in order to nearest distance from the sun; are Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars. After Mars, the so called gaseous planets in the same order nearest the sun are; Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto. There are Moons orbiting around the vicinity of each planet closest to them. Beyond the orbiting planets, you have the Asteroids rotating about the sun, some as big as 25 miles long. Asteroids are debris left over from the formation of our solar system. Smaller bodies such as comets and meteors are also within our solar system too. Venus is a planet a little smaller than Earth, but wildly different. It is a dry world with a scorching surface of about 860 degrees F. Unlike the Earth it does not have moving tectonic plates and so the planet’s surface tends to move up or down. Since it has hundreds of volcanoes, 85% of the surface is low-lying volcanic plains consisting of vast areas of flood lava. Why is this so? I conjecture the Sun’s gravity is so great it stretches Venus like a rubber ball. Winds can reach 250 mph. The atmosphere is 97% carbon dioxide. Mars, the planet just beyond Earth is called the Red planet because of its rust red color. Although Mars is now a dry planet, a large evidence seen on surfaces indicate liquid water once flowed across its surface. Somewhere after the creation of the Solar System, planet Mars lost its strong magnetic field. Solar (radiation) winds then penetrated Mars’ atmosphere and dried the whole planet surface. High level winds produce dust storms that cover vast areas in the planet. Similar to tornados, “Dust Devils” are common. But unlike tornadoes these swirling winds shoot dust up towards the atmosphere. Since Mars is much smaller than Earth and further from the Sun, gravity on the surface of Mars is only about 38% strong compared to that of Earth. Like Venus, the atmosphere is dominated by carbon dioxide. Jupiter, Mar’s outer neighbor is the largest planet in our Solar system. Jupiter’s atmosphere is mostly hydrogen. Its volume is 1,300 times larger than that of the Earth. Surprisingly, gravity in Jupiter is only 2.5 times the Earth’s gravity. Although one day revolution in this planet is only 10 hours long, one orbital revolution about the Sun lasts almost 12 years. Storms in Jupiter can generate 250 mph winds. A red spot in this planet long visible for many years by observatories on Earth, is believed to be a large storm lasting for about 300 years. It has a magnetic field is so powerful, most asteroids straying from the asteroid belt, land in Jupiter, Earth’s life saver. Saturn, although not as large, is still 760 times the volume of Earth. It is another cold gaseous planet with an average temperature of minus 220 degrees F. The atmosphere is mostly ammonia gas at the top and ammonium hydroxide beneath it. Saturn has continual lightning storms all over the planet. Lightning noise was transmitted to Earth by a mechanical Orbiter Explorer (observer), which started its journey after being “rocketed shot” from Earth. The rings visible encircling Saturn are actually frozen ice particles, some as large as asteroids. For now, planet Earth seems to be the only planet where life has flourished. Like other planets, it has undergone violent changes from the time of its creation. About 4.5 billion years ago, during the early formation of the solar system, there were considerably more planets than there are today. While orbiting the Sun, many of these planets have collided. Planet Earth itself collided with another planet; head on for the other planet but a lucky side collision for planet Earth. The Earth survived but this collision caused the Earth to have a higher temperature below the surface. Tectonic plates on Earth now float on a molten-lava like mantle. Some of the debris from the collision broke up into asteroids that have orbited around the Earth. Eventually gravity coalesced much of these asteroids and thus formed our Moon. The Earth was also continually bombarded by asteroids, meteors, etc and as a result, it grew in size. It was assumed, these asteroids carried water to our Earth. The Earth at one time was completely covered with water. Volcanic activity under the oceans gave birth to land. This process of building land masses above the water surface on Earth is still going on. Volcanic activity is seen today in one of the Hawaiian Islands and has been pushing lava on its ocean shores. Floating tectonic plates have altered the Earth’s terrain. When the plates separate they form new continents. Notice that the western shores of Africa and the eastern parts of South and North America fit like a jigsaw puzzle. This movement created the Atlantic Ocean. When tectonic plates meet, land masses rise up. The island of India collided with Asia. The result was the formation of the Himalayan mountain ranges. The presence of water, oxygen, carbon, amino acids, etc. were what propagated life on Earth. Fossils seen in ancient rocks point to living simple bacteria-like organisms on Earth some 3.8 billion years ago. Once life in this rudimentary form had started, processes such as mutation and natural selection inevitably followed (over billions of years). This resulted to a collection of life forms of increasing diversity and complexity. Most mammals developed eyes. This is because of the “predator/prey” laws of Nature. Even if Charles Darwin was right that man evolved from the apes, the big question is, “Why are we the only mammals that evolved as rational beings capable of having the free will to do good or evil?” During the formation of life species in the planet, many colossal incidences have continually occurred. A million years ago, an asteroid landed on Earth, (in the Yucatan region), bursting out with such energy comparable to a thousand atomic bombs. Asteroids can be as large as 25 miles in length. This explosion contaminated the Earth with radiation and changed climatic conditions for many years. Most plants and animals did not survive. This also caused the extinction of dinosaurs in our planet. We just went thru an Ice age of 10,000 years ago. The Earth has gone thru 12 such Ice Ages where most times the globe was completely covered with ice. The existence of mankind on Earth is no more then a blimp when looking at the age of our Earth. Never the less, compared to other planets in our solar system, we are truly blest currently living life in our home, the Earth. The Universe is a collection of billions of Galaxies. To understand the workings of the Universe one needs to understand how Galaxies are formed. After “The Big Bang”, dust clouds seem to swirl around central points in the center in each Galaxy. This center is a dark area, called a “Black Hole”. It was labeled “black” because no one has seen inside it. Due to almost infinite gravitational forces in this hole, beams of light are bent so much so, light cannot escape in this Black hole area. Most Black Holes occupy a volume about one billion times larger than our Sun. Since there is singular point of possibly infinite gravity, inside each Black hole, they create problems for physicists who try to discover how Black Holes work in the Universe. Physicists using existing mathematical equations, to find out how Black holes behave in the Universe, lead to meaningless conclusions. We need to discover better mathematical postulates. Black Holes are crucial in the formation of stars, planets, moons, etc. in a Galaxy. Celestial bodies orbit about the center of these Black Holes. Large stars, called Super Nova, are also formed from dust particles. These large stars consume hydrogen much faster than other smaller stars. When they die, they expand in size. Because of the intense heat generated on its surface as it expands, they devour other celestial bodies when these celestial bodies come in contact with it. What is then transformed in the center of this previous Super Nova is a sphere very much smaller from the stars’ original size. This star is now called a Neutron star. Gravity continually compresses this Neutron star. Consequently intense heat is generated in its interior, (same thermodynamics principle as in your pressure cooker). Eventually, the star explodes and releases a collection of dust particles in the Universe, called a Nebula. This can actually be seen with powerful telescopes from Earth, even Nebulas as far as a million light years away. One second in a Light year travels seven times around the world. Therefore, what we see today in an existing Nebula could be the formation of this Galaxy in the early stages of creation. The dust particles from these Nebulas eventually form solar celestial bodies containing all the elements, identical to what we have here on Earth. If you look around you, including yourself, we are made by the same atoms, molecules, etc. that was once in a star. Our true mothers are the stars. Most humans believe in a Supreme Being. Why is this so? Is this because Faith is inborn in humans? Or is it because humans fear death, the unknown hereafter? Years ago here in the US, William Miller declared that Domes Day would arrive on April 5, 1843. Tens of thousands of devout followers, called Millerites, awaited the coming of Armageddon. When 1843 came and went without the arrival of the End of Days, the Millerite movement split into several large groups. One large Millerite movement regrouped in 1863 and changed their name to Seventh-Day Adventist, which today has about 14 million baptized members. Another splinter group of Millerites later drifted toward the work of Charles Russel, who pushed back the date of Doomsday to 1874. When that date also passed, he revised his prediction, this time to 1914. This group would later be called Jehovah’s Witnesses, with a membership of over 6 million. No wonder Lenin made the statement, “Religion is the opium of the people”. What was Lenin thinking about? Unfortunately, man has incorporated many of man’s fantasies in all religions, (in my opinion). Recall the history of all the sufferings, prejudices, and even killing through wars, all in the name of religion. This is still happening today! However some of these fantasies may have validity. Historians trace that a big earthquake occurred near or on the coast of southern Europe at the time of Moses. As we recently experienced, a tsunami follows resulting from such earthquakes; the water recedes from the coastline and comes back with a vengeance generating high waves. Is this how Moses and his followers crossed the Red Sea, and the pursuing Egyptians drowned in the aftermath? I would like to emphasize the difference between Religion and Spirituality. A spiritual person believes in God because his faith convinces him there is a Supreme Being. Many physicists are in awe on the creations in the Universe because they believe in a Creator. They are looking for a God of Order not a God of Miracles. There are many persons thru out history and even at the present, devoting their lives, serving mankind. Some serve through their religious affiliations. But others have no religious affiliation at all! I conclude this article quoting the Nicene Creed which was a prayer by the Romans when they converted to the Christian faith; “Credo in unum Deum, Patrem omnipotentem, factorem caeli et terrae, visibilium omnium et in visiblium. (I believe in one God, the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and of all things, visible and invisible.) References: www.nasa.gov/topics/universe/index.html www.history.com/shows/The-Universe Tony Villanueva June 2012

TO BE OR NOT TO BE EMPLOYED

With nationwide unemployment hovering around 10%, this article could be of timely interest. “To be or not to be”, that question was famously asked in the Shakespearian play Hamlet. Who are these guys in the US still employed or unemployed? I would like to relate my experience during my 30 to 35 years of employment in industry. Although not exactly relevant in this day and age, this article recollects my years of employment beginning in the middle year nineteen fifties. I am hoping this article would help someone find employment or for those who stay employed, have a better insight of this present professional world of reality or sometimes fantasy.

I began to work as an engineer trainee soon after two years of graduate school from an Ivy League university. This corporation was a nationally well established steel supplier and my department specialized in the engineering problems concerning the fabrication and erection of steel buildings and bridges, including suspension bridges. Most all steel framed structures around the New York metropolitan area were supplied by this corporation. Suspension cable bridges require some mathematical sophistication since these bridge cables form catenary flexible curves.

I worked in a large hall of about 30 or so engineers cranking out the engineering related solutions to these structural problems. Right beside me was an engineer nearing retirement whose desk was touching the edge of my desk doing the same type of work we young recruits were doing. One day a ceremony was given in honor of this retiring old engineer. The ceremony was primarily organized by the higher supervisors whose glass walled offices surrounded our big hall. There was the usual gold watch presentation and kudos of speeches given by the chief engineer and others. No sooner than the ceremonies were in full swing, the old engineer started crying like a child. The message was clear to me. He had years of frustration from not being promoted just like his co-leagues surrounding him. At that moment the supervisors glumly went back to their offices one by one. Right there was Lesson Number one for me. Lesson 1: Don’t cry. The primary purpose of why you were born is not to be an outstanding success in your professional career. I decided then and there not to wait for supervisors to promote me but be the best engineer I possibly could. My thoughts were that companies would pay for my specialized engineering contributions. Besides, within this corporation, nepotism was rampant. Many years later, steel companies from Japan and other emerging countries eventually brought this corporation to bankruptcy. Also, during those years I still was working for my papers for permanent US residence and eventually became a citizen of this great country. Yes, the corporation helped be sparingly with some of the documentation for my permanent residence. Clearly, they realized that as soon as I was awarded permanent residency, there would be no reason for me to look elsewhere for possibly better opportunities. After accomplishing this goal I started to seek bigger advancement in other companies as predicted. Lesson 2: This is a competitive world. Everyone is looking out for Number 1.

Three reasons why I decided to quit my job at the steel corporation, are: !) I recieved my US permanent papers; and 2) I wanted to go to graduate school with the intention of getting an MS in Mathematics. Engineering problems are sometimes better solved using math. A classical example is in erection problems of suspension bridges I mentioned above. Those main cables follow mathematical hyperbolic functions. Main cables in suspension bridges are flexible curves mathematically shaped as catenary curves; and so erection of the road deck needs to be built at calculated positions along the cable length. Also 3) Living in the East Coast in Pennsylvania was a dead end as far as my social life was concerned. So I applied to two of the best schools in Michigan. University of Michigan accepted me. but Michigan State University made a better offer. At MSU I was also accepted as a Teaching Assistant in the Math Dept; even though I did not have a Math degree. At that time MSU was still catching up with U of M. MSU must not have been too choosy. This turned out to be the best deal, as I met my future beautiful wife at MSU. Why I continued beyond my MS to get a Ph D in Math is another story. Some of my graduate school companions had the impression that, “an engineer does not have the intelligence to work for a Math doctorate degree”. After much work, patience, and determination, I finally made it. A compliment was given to me by one of the young professors in the Math Department who previously had looked down on me as lacking. She said, ”You are now one of us.” I also thought I would change careers and become a Math professor. Lesson 3: With much hard work and determination, most people can achieve their realistic goals.

After two years as a Math professor, low pay, and yes, politics (it is also well and alive not only in government and industry but also in the academic field), I found out I was in the wrong profession and decided to go back in engineering. Get 250 professors to suggest solving a university problem and you get 250 different recommendations. Teaching college kids was a great and rewarding experience. During those years of student demonstrations the students were on my side. However, abstract mathematics and the pressure of “publish or perish” was not going too well for me. There probably was also was a lack of interest in my part in this area. Practical engineering is the opposite extreme of abstract mathematics. We were so poor that we picked the fallen apples from the university campus trees to make us apple pies. Right then and there, we decided to change my professional income. By the way, those were the best apple pies I ever tasted.

So I went back to engineering but this time designing both coal and nuclear power plants. I put my math experience in computer programming; designing related power plant components such as high smoke stacks, foundations, earthquake resistant steel structures, etc. Obviously, management at my new company were very impressed on what I could do. In the span of three months I doubled my salary from what I was formerly being paid as a professor. The job took me places communicating with foreign engineers in France, Germany, Iran, and Korea which to me was very exciting. However one of the company’s critiques was that I was not “a team player”. Especially when going overseas, I did not hang around socially with the rest of the team, but preferred the company of the French, Germans, Iranians, Koreans, etc. Except for higher pay, promotions did not come too easily, especially with the usual company politicking and back stabbing involved. The truth is I figured life was too short for me to be a continual “ass kisser”. So one day I got “promoted” as an ordinary analysis engineer working on piping systems in Nuclear power plants. Piping systems could be subjected to possible earthquakes and violent breakdowns due to nuclear accidents. I worked on these problems using computer structural programs developed by NASA, called NASTRAN. The Piping manager was so impressed with my knowledge; he eventually made me his right hand man and set my office next to his. Suddenly the now historical nuclear plant in Pennsylvania “Three Mile Island” almost came to an accidental “melt down”. Even President Carter got involved by visiting this power plant after the accident. Thereafter Nuclear power plants became taboo. Our company started losing contracts. Besides, utilities could not afford many more re-designs mandated by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The NRC kept changing the rules of their “what if” games. A couple of years before my company finally closed their doors to everyone, I got the “pink slip”. “Cut off the high paying jocks first to conserve cash”. But as I mentioned a while ago, the computer program NASTRAN was my salvation. NASTRAN was and still is being used in Automotive, Aircraft, Aerospace, and some other design fields besides nuclear power plants. Without this experience I probably would have joined the “McDonald morning coffee club” with many of my former senior managers from that company reminiscing on the “good old times”. Lesson 4: The Chinese word for “crisis” is the same as the word for “opportunity”.

Six months of no work was a stressful time as well as a learning experience for me. Where could I find meaningful work? What company would be willing to take a chance on me? Forget about suing my former employer for discrimination, etc, etc. ; contrary to the advice of a few of my former co-workers. I figured this was a waste of my time. And so I reviewed what engineering talents I had and what line of service I could offer to prospective employers. I studied, explored, read guide books, etc and even attended a church Novena. I also met with so-called employment advisers (one of them I recall a minister/advisor whose spiritual advices I judged way irrelevant. This clearly was a waste of my time.) I also wrote and rewrote my Resume, and possibly mailed a hundred letters of application to companies. These letters of employment inquiries usually end up in company Personnel departments. They have a special file rack for these letters; “the ever present waste basket”. Personnel people usually haven’t the foggiest idea what you can do for their company. There suddenly was a change of tactics on my part. I decided to meet prospective employers on a face to face basis. In some cases I got myself inside their gates and announced to them, ”Here I am. This is what I can do for you”. In other cases companies promoted job fairs where applicants could meet their company engineering executives on a one on one basis. My experiences included rejections, near misses, company cultural differences, over qualifications, “not one of us”, pay refusals, you name it. One aircraft parts company whom the “higher ups” I met were very enthusiastic, had unfortunately also included an interviewer who would have been my immediate supervisor. This guy never liked me from the very start. Another one looked at me thoughtfully and probably was thinking along these lines. “If I hire this guy, how long will he stay with us before he finds another higher paying and more meaningful job more commensurate to his knowledge”. Some made their actions very clear to me; “You are not one of us”. Finally after six months of trying, I got a permanent offer from one of the big three automotive manufacturers in their Detroit Headquarters. I announced this to my wife and I was almost in tears of relief. Lesson 5; Never give up (recall the words of Winston Churchill).

I considered myself very fortunate to land this job for three reasons. !) I had no automotive experience; 2) I was 54 years old, and 3) I carried the stigma of being laid off (fired) from my former company. Sure, the corporation was not willing to pay me my former previous salary, but in six months I got raises that erased this difference. The work in automotive design was enthusiastically challenging and demanding. I was able to apply the computer program NASTRAN analyzing engine and transmission components in cars and trucks. The corporation had a great bunch of experienced technical people. Unfortunately these talented people played secondary roles to many arrogant and ambitious managers who were usually power hungry. And the labor union was another headache to deal with. It seemed to me that their objective was to get maximal pay for minimal work. Also, I believe we were overpaid. Whenever union people demands were granted, we executives automatically got raises too. Where did the money come from? It came from minimizing car improvements and avoiding suggested recommendations from these technical people whose objectives were to manufacture a better car or truck. Some responses were, “Do you realize one added bolt could cost a million dollars in our assembly manufacturing plant?” Eventually, the Japanese and Europeans saw their openings and started making more desirable cars the US public would like. Their vehicles were subject to fewer repairs and breakdowns. It is now history that in the year 2008 two of these big three corporations asked for government help (hat in hand) to bail them out of bankruptcy. Lesson 6: Dinner served can sometimes give the eater an indigestion.
Here is a major incident that made me think of retiring. According to corporate procedure, I asked to be nominated for manager in the newly proposed Computer Analysis Department. Obviously there were other applicants for this position too. It finally came down to two people; myself and someone else. Three Vice-preidents were to have the final say. One was my executive engineer in the Powertrain division who believed I started the methodology at Powertrian. The other never liked me since I started to work for the corporation. The third one was a “fence sitter”. After much politics, the “fence sitter” finally decided on the other guy. This hurt me deeply at the time but I now consider this disappointment unnecessary on my part. Now I say, “So what?” Lesson 7: “Father, forgive them. They know not what they do.” Obviously, during that time, there also were “back stabbing” incidents from others, not worth mentioning here. I was already making good money, which was causing some jealousy among my coworkers, my newly chosen manager included. So I hung around for about a year as a 3-day part time employee. During those days I was given the responsibility to talk to a few high up executives. These encounters with these executives made me more anxious to make my last farewell. Retire! Don’t ever come back. Tony you were never programmed to spend the rest of your days in this corporation.

As a final note, I would like to mention my interview with someone at the US Social Security Office later after I retired. We were talking about how much I made working and what Social Security checks I would be receiving in the future. The clerk looked at me and paused. She said, “The American dream is not dead”. So, after I left her office I was thinking to myself, “Were these 30-35 years of professional work worth it?” My response was, “You bet it was!” This is now all history. So, Final lesson: “Let the past fade away. Why get lost in yesterday.”

MY MAMMA DONE TOLD ME!
I remember the first few lines of this song, “Blues in the Night”, as in the title of the song. I heard the song in a movie I watching in an open field with the rest of the GI’s. The movie was shown in an open field beside an Army hospital where the American battle wounded soldiers were treated during the liberation of Luzon in the Philippines, 1944. The hospital was no more than the town church, and inside this church lay rows of beds for the wounded soldiers . This Spanish architecture of concrete and stone church was very similar to the ones you see in the Southwest US. Following his usual routine, the church catholic priest would still say mass at the front altar every morning!
What was the movie about? It was about a US pilot downed during the war and came back to his training Air Force school as a ghost instructor. This killed pilot was played by the actor, Spencer Tracy. He left a fiancée whom he obviously did not marry. And in one scene he was supposedly guiding a cadet pilot doing his solo flight. Spencer Tracy, the ghost instructor, was sitting on the back behind the cadet pilot and in one scene, he was irritably annoyed. Because this young cadet for one thing, was now dating his former fiancée. And while flying, this young cadet would start singing, “My mamma done told me!”. So Tracy, the ghost instructor would shout back, “Quit talking about what your mamma had told you and concentrate on your flying”. Being a ghost he supposedly could not be heard.
Why was this movie shown in the open area? By that time the Japanese planes in the area were pretty much decimated. And so there was no danger of enemy bombings. Not long before then, I had the interesting experience of seeing a US plane chasing a Jap plane . Then, after a few machine gun bursts, down went the Jap plane. I was imagining that the local natives were already rushing to the downed plane salvaging whatever aluminum scrap metal they could salvage. They would melt this aluminum metal to make pots and pans.

What was I doing hanging around that hospital area? It so happened my youngest brother was recuperating from a brain injury he sustained during a bombing raid, ironically by American planes. This happened when US planes bombed the town center a couple of weeks prior to the US landing in Lingayen Gulf, Luzon. (General Douglas Mac Arthur himself landed on the beach with the first wave of infantry men). Before the landing, some US planes were reconnoitering the town area. Suddenly these US pilots were annoyed because Japanese anti aircraft guns started shooting at them. They proceeded to bomb the vicinity. Half of the house we were in was blown off. One person in our group died and a few wounded. Walking through the town streets later, we passed more dead civilians. General Douglas Mac Arthur landed on the beach soon after the first wave infantry men hit the beach. He strolled on the beach about 10 miles from where we were.

Days after the landing, an Evacuation Army Hospital was set up in town. An army major brain surgeon and his team picked up my brother, set him on a stretcher in a jeep for the army hospital. And he proceeded with an operation the next day. This team of jeeps had to travel through beside bamboo thick river trails outside town. We felt safer evacuating to the countryside bundocks after the bombings. Luckily, my father was a great diplomat, pleading with the US army soon as they secured the nearby town we were in. My wounded brother was beginning to go blind from possibly an infection. Anyway, here I was making my routine visits to see my youngest brother in the hospital.

While making my routine rounds of visits, I would pass through the center ailes of this hospital church and see these wounded GI’s. One wouded soldier particularly stuck in my mind. Because he had an open stomach wound and his inside guts were plainly uncovered. During my passings through I heard him shout a couple of times, “Momma”. I believe this kid was only in his teens. Not much older then my oldest brother. A few days later, I saw his bed empty and clean. So I asked the GI nearby where he was. He grimly said, “He died last night”. For a 12 year old, this made a lasting impression on me. I am now convinced what a powerful impression “Momma” makes on her child.

MY MOMMA DONE TOLD ME
WHEN I WAS IN KNEE PANTS
MY MOMMA DONE TOLD ME SO
AH HUEY AH HUEY, AH CLICKITY-CLOCK
I’VE GOT THE BLUES IN THE NIGHT

What myths, I believe, is said about old people.

Old age causes senility.

True you slow down in your comprehension or thinking. I believe senility is the result of older people not using their mental capabilities because of non involvement of what is currently going on. A classical example is where people pass the day watching only the TV. Or, of course, people who have Altshimers just are not themselves. Recall that Einstein discovered the Theory of Relativity in his later years.

Old age causes forgetfulness.
Old people concentrating on what is currently going in the present, don’t seem to have that trait. Think of the statement made that “older people are more careful drivers”.

People change personality as they age.
I believe most people stay with their personality at whatever age. Good guys stay good. Bad guys stay bad. That “mean old man” was most probably a “mean young man”.

Old people with sufferings such as sickness and other tribulations make them change for the better.
True they suffer. A few change and become better persons. That does not necessarily mean all of these people change for the better. My experiences taught me most people do not change their attitudes at all, no matter what.

Old people are more likely to be depressed or suicidal.
If one suffers from a long illness, it would be an effort to have a healthy mental attitude. Or if they are lonely such as, their adult children do not want them around. However, one should ask the question what has happened years ago. You harvest what you plant. No, in my opinion, depression or suicides can happen at any age.




Old people expect Death waiting for them just around the corner.
No, no no! Not all old people. Some of them are too involved in life’s activities; they do not have the time to think of their last day. For whatever reason, some do not slow down even in their sex life; Viagra or no Viagra; heart attacks or no heart attacks.

Old people become more religious and believe in a God when they realize life will soon end.
I believe a person stays an atheist or believes in a God all through his life.

Young people are prejudiced against old people.
A fairer insight is to ask the question, “How do old people view the younger generation”. Are they friendly or intolerant towards younger people?

Old people sleep more than young people.
Old people get more tired easily than younger people. This is why they are seen taking short naps during day hours. But I believe old healthy people sleep less during night time. So the bottom line, in terms of hours of sleep, is about the same.

Old people stoop as a permanent posture.
If a person has osteoporosis, what else can one expect. However, some old people develop this as a permanent posture. But the problem can be corrected if one has a younger wife who constantly reminds you to stand or walk straight.

I'M GONNA LIVE FOREVER

In 1980 there was a very popular movie called, “Fame”. I remember the theme song played in this movie. This song eventually did become a musical hit and thereafter played in almost every radio station. I was in Korea for three months doing engineering Nuclear Power design work at the time. They played this song over and over again in a Korean radio station that I usually listened to. The first few lines go like this, “I’m gonna live forever. I’m gonna live when I die”.

Does man continue in an afterlife at the moment of death? I personally believe they do. The fact is, most people in this world believe in an afterlife. Most people believe man’s spirit lives on forever. My reason for believing starts with my belief in God. Who is this God? When I was very young, I remember a story about a boy digging a hole along the sea shore. The boy went to the shore line, carried a spade of sand and placed this sand in this hole he just dug. The boy repeated this routine over and over again. An old man sat nearby curiously watching this boy’s actions played over and over. The old man was fascinated why the boy was doing this several times. So he asked the boy how much sand he would place in the hole he first dug. The boy replied that he was going to put all the sand in the ocean in this hole. Surprised, the old man replied, “Child, you will never be able to put all that sand from this ocean in that hole”. And so the child answered, “This is easier than you trying to figure out Who God Is.”

Being part of the human race, I too ask this age old question. “Who is this God?” To begin with, I believe God did send a man we called Jesus Christ much unto like Himself. I believe God’s message to mankind is through the teachings of Jesus Christ. This is the credo of my life. Historically, Christ preached teachings such as the Beatitudes, “Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after justness, for they shall have their fill”….; and He taught us the Lord’s Prayer, in part with the words,”forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us”; then finally He gave His life in a crucifixion experience, the purpose of which was to create a new world. The fact is, Jesus Christ also said each one of us could be like God too. And so why are we not? If only and if only we would live a perfect life, we would be like God too. The problem here as I see it, is most of us do not live perfect lives. Looking at all religions, I then ask the question, “Who else did God send to convey His messages to man?” I am not sure to how many others, besides Jesus Christ! Think about the different religious practices in this world man references to, in order to unite himself with God. Fundamentally I believe, devout Christians, Moslems, Jews, Buddhists, etc. live by similar principals. I believe any man inherently knows within himself what is morally right and what is morally wrong. Man continually makes these choices during his life time experiences when living in this earth. So therefore I ask myself the question, “Why do some of us constantly need to try to convert everyone else to our own religious beliefs?” In order to follow a true mode of life, I believe one has to make a transition from religion to spirituality. There is a world of difference living a spiritual life in contrast to just being religious.

Over thousands of years it seems likely most religions were eventually modified by man. Consequently, man has created all these fantasies that are included in most religious faiths. Much of the time man included all these add libs so as to gain political or economic power, or many times, just to be able to control the people within their own flock. Throughout history, man has suffered so much because of false religious teachings from these so called leaders of their religious faith. Recall all the wars mankind went thru in the name of religion.


Going back to my initial statement, “Why do I believe in an afterlife?” Somehow, I cannot reconcile myself to believing that after 78 years of my life experiences, all these would go down to oblivion; meaningless, swallowed in a black hole of voids. As a 9 to 13 year old child during World War II, I already ask myself this question. Was there a meaning to the sufferings of my own, my family, and countless other people some of whom lost their lives? Then there are the memories of, so far 45 years of marriage. Blissful happiness, sacrifices, and during the early years an occasional argument. Most fulfilling to me was learning the experiences of giving yourself to others. Are all these lessons for naught? More meaningful to me is my faith that God had been leading me all through my entire life. Even disappointments lead me to a new life much more fulfilling than I could have foreseen at the time. Also, as a member or the human race I also have had my share of paranormal experiences. In fact, a large number of the population in this world have them. More traumatic are those people going through an NDE (near death experience) .

During my hospice spiritual volunteer days, I recall a prisoner telling me about his fearful days during World War II. He narrated his supply carrying ship was sunk in the Atlantic, not once but twice on different occasions by German U-boats. While floating at sea hoping to be rescued during one of these episodes he said, “I saw Jesus Christ in front of me”. Who am I to say this 78 year old man, convicted of child sex molestation and now seriously ill and dying, just had an illusion. One of my own paranormal experiences involved my dad after he died of cancer. Two weeks before he died I decided to fly overseas and visit him. My brother and I kept night vigil in the hospital during the last week he passed away. I later shocked a close family friend when I informed this friend I was flying back to the states the very same day. My wife was alone caring for our new born daughter at the time. This incident happened while we waiting in the hospital morgue where my father’s body lay for the funeral people to take his body . Needless to say, on returning home, I started having disturbing guilt feelings on leaving so soon. And the memories of my own shortcomings during my growing up years with my father aggravated these guilt feelings. This depression ended abruptly when I dreamed he appeared on a family party gathering, radiant and young looking. He had an expression of sheer contentment and happiness. Not seeing him in the funeral parlor, I was surprised to be told in a family letter describing his funeral, that he was dressed in a dark navy blue suit. This was the same suit I saw him in my dream! Coincidence? Wishfull thinking or true spiritual communication? I am not sure.

I firmly believe my whole life has been guided by some spiritual source. Sometimes these events in my life seem to have negative meanings at the time. Years later, I would say to myself, “Yea, now I see it”. Thank you for leading me to this other road of heartaches. That road lead me to a better life thereafter. For many long years I was blind, but now I see.

Ask me the question again. Why do I believe in a life hereafter? It really comes down to a one answer. Faith!

I’m gonna live forever. I’m gonna live when I die. Remember! Remember!

IS IT GOOD OR BAD ?

The author of the book I am currently reading claims there is no such thing as good or bad. Quoting the author, “Seen from a higher prospective, conditions are neither positive nor negative. They are as they are. And when you live in complete acceptance of what is, there is no good or bad in your life anymore. There is only the higher good – which includes the bad. Seen from the perspective of the mind however, there is good-bad, like-dislike, love-hate, and so on.” I have been thinking about my life experiences and I believe there is some truth in these words.

Recalling on the prisoner-patients I have counseled at Southern Michigan Prison, I can remember some of these patients, dying mostly from cancer or liver disease, in general say these words to me. “Tony, this sickness has given me peace and tranquility. It has positively changed how I look at life. I now believe in the goodness of a God. And I look forward to a better life hereafter” One prisoner clearly expressed his thoughts to me when he said, “In heaven there will be no more anger, vengeance, violence, cruelty, etc.; there I will only find peace and happiness.” These prisoners were in pain until they die, but they only found goodness in their last days.

I left the Philippines and decided to migrate to the US because I had some unhappy experiences in my early years of living in the Philippines. People, including some of my relatives had the attitude of, “what can you do for me”, rather than “what can I do for you”. To write all these numerous bad (?) experiences here would require writing an entire book. I started thinking of a better life in the US, especially when I was 13 years old since I started hanging around the GI base camps in town during the liberation war in the Philippines. These GI’s treated me with much fairness, like I was a kid brother of theirs. I now believe the difference between cultures;. in the Philippines this is due to years of an unyielding catholic clergy, former experiences with Spanish colonialism, and an accepted way of life of corruption. To substantiate my belief, just look at the non-progress of that nation after 60 years of independence since 1945. The Philippines was one of the richest nations in the Far East after World War II. Now it is one of the poorest. However these unhappy experiences brought me to a better and satisfying life in the US ever since I came to this country in 1954. A year after I came here, I already made up my mind I was never going to go back to the Philippines. I stuck to whatever ups and downs of life in the US and have no regrets at all for not going back. So, should I be thankful for these unpleasant experiences in the Philippines?

I believe my life experiences, often labeled good and bad (including my life in the US), are somewhat inter related. Before I left the Philippines, I was infatuated with a mostly Spanish young girl. The problem was she was much more popular and had many other dates. Another problem was economics. I was spending on dates not only for her but also for a chaperon that came along, including sometimes her mother. During those day mothers thought daughters were a valued commodity. One day her mother told my mom I was not spending enough on her daughter. Very shortly before leaving for the US, I had come to the conclusion it would be best to forget her and start a new life in the US. So after a month or so in the US and some interchange of letters showing mutual disinterest, it was finally over. And I never looked back thereafter. Then there was an Irish Catholic girl in Pennsylvania who was more interested in college fraternity kids. Sorry to say but my dad’s recommendation of finding an Irish Catholic girl was not what was cracked up to be. Also there was this Jewish-Irish girl who eventually said I was weak. When I mentioned this to mom when she visited me here in the US, she said “Jewish girls are hot stuff. Stay away from them.” For once, this time around she was right. I was too religious to go all the way with Miss Hot Stuff. But mom had ulterior motives too; like hoping I would change my mind and go back to the Philippines. I can also recall dating a graduate student at MSU. The whole relationship fell apart when she finally introduced me to her parents. I can remember the look in their eyes. “Not this guy as a son-in-law for our beautiful daughter”. A college student neighbor of hers in Indiana later told me she was chosen as “Miss Indiana”. I was unrealistically shooting too high. My roommate told me I deliberately chose these dates because inwardly I did not want to get married, unconsciously knowing these relationships would not work out. This could have been true.

Eventually I did meet Joan and at our first introduction, I was thinking at that moment this is the girl I would like to marry. So after some months of anxiety and counseling; getting rid of my unreasonable obligations to care for my parents, fear of catholic indoctrinated beliefs, cultural upbringing, and overcoming being afraid of responsibility, we finally got married. Occasionally when I think back of these other women, I can honestly say I am so glad I did not get stuck with anyone of them. So I let the past fade away. Why get lost in yesterday. As I go thru life I often think that I was lucky to have Joan as my wife. Each week I get reminders that makes this bond grow stronger. They are small reminders like Joan cooking dinner, serving me coffee, or just a smile from her in the mornings. It is like building a mansion one brick at a time.

Now let me write about my professional working experiences. After graduate school at Lehigh U in 1956, I started working for Bethlehem Steel, initially as an Engineer in Training. During those days all the grunt engineers were located in a large room; desks piled right next to each other. Beside me was a long time employee of the company who obviously never got the promotions. One day there was a retirement ceremonial get together around his desk; gold watch and all. This old engineer then started to cry. This was a cry of frustration for all those years he worked at that company. To make matters worse, many of the senior executives around his desk who probably started the same year he did, were the ones “honoring” him. Working alongside this crying old engineer, I made up my mind, this was never going to happen to me. I was determined to be the smartest engineer possible and make decent money. This song by Tennessee Ernie Ford fits this situation. It goes like, “Sixteen tons, another day older and deeper in debt. Lord please help me for what I did. I sold my soul to the company store!” Later working for other companies I had my share of frustrations not going beyond a run of the mill manager. But I made very good money from each one of these companies. Here is an example of my working experience during those last years I worked for Chrysler. Initially I started a computer analytical methodology used for analyzing automotive accessories, engines, and transmissions. And so I was a candidate to be the department manager for a group of MS and Ph d engineers working there, many of whom I selectively hired .. Unfortunately, a political battle began since another Ph D from another department applied for the same job. There were three vice presidents from the company to decide who was going to get the job. One, who I’d worked for, was obviously for me, the other chose the outsider, and the third one was initially a fence sitter. For some reason the fence sitter vice president finally also chose this other guy. This was a great disappointment for me. This especially hit me when the vice president who was for me said, “Tony, you are the guy who started this type of work here for the division.” So I started thinking. I was eligible for retirement in a few years, my health was not improving, and there was no need for me to put up with all this crap. Besides I already had made decent money all those years. So finally I gave my notice and retired. An interesting follow up is this other guy who became manager tried to induce me to come back a year after I left. Politely I answered the equivalent of saying, “no way Jose”. Unfortunately this manager started working under the same vice president who voted for me.

Lastly, I would like to write about my religion and spiritually. Years back, I went to confession and told the priest I was resentful of some issue in the Philippines. Well this priest went after me with a vengeance, like, “Why are you here telling me this?”. After confession, I sat in the church pew saying to myself I am feeling worse than before I went to confession. Obviously I was not confessing to Jesus Christ as we were taught in a catholic high school.. The priest scandals going on in the news was an obvious wake up call. So this is where I started looking into the meaning of Spirituality. Religion many times is practiced so as to control people. One can believe in God by being kind to your neighbor and yourself. And also one can observe the laws of nature in this earth and other heavenly bodies. We are all human and we act from our own idiosyncrasies. Who determines what is good for you? You do.