Photographs of Minnesota Wildlife by N. G. Carlson

This past spring and summer, I took photographs of wildlife at Silverwood Park and Long Lake Regional Park north of Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota. Other locations were outside the Bell Museum of Natural History, near my residence and at a woods north of the Twin Cities metro area. 

Spending time in nature during weekday mornings and on weekends made the spring, summer, and fall a wonderful experience. In the book you will meet Scruffy and Blue two Great Blue Herons who glided from one fishing spot to another stopping long enough for me to watch them groom themselves and patiently fish. 

A doe and the fawn on the cover of the book surprised me more than once on my morning walks. The wood duck and hooded merganser families spent time with each other raising their ducklings together. Turtles played tag under water and covered up the available logs on cool sunny days. 

I enjoyed listening to the sounds of songbirds and the hammering of the woodpeckers. I watched bluebirds diving on the grass to pick up insects and the osprey fishing for sunfish. Butterflies, bees, and dragonflies enjoyed the flowers and time on the lake.   

Photographing the wildlife was a walking meditation and an opportunity to capture the beauty in nature. It was a chance to observe and enjoy the dance of life. The book, Photographs of Minnesota Wildlife is available from Amazon in a paperback and kindle version. 

I appreciate the support from the Silverwood Camera Club and my editors Betsy Salvatore and Tammy K. Smith. 

Cardinal Song - 1 min. 15 sec.

Catbird song - 36 sec.

Evolutionary Psychology part 1: The Science of Human Nature by Allen D. MacNeill

In this first section of a two part series Allen D. MacNeill covers the individual aspects of evolutionary psychology, The Modern Scholar: Evolutionary Psychology I: The Science of Human Nature. In the next set of lectures Evolutionary Psychology Part Two focuses on group interactions.

Professor MacNeill's theatrical background makes listening to his lectures entertaining. He often pauses struggling for appropriate euphemisms to describe topics that are not appropriate for dinner time conversation.

He pokes holes in the standard social science model that we are all blank slates that can be molded by the environment into the person you become. He favors the proposition that we are shaped by our genetic background and the environment that we occupy.

He compares the behavior of other animals and finds similarities. Some findings are disturbing. Infanticide or abuse is much higher with stepfathers with no genetic relation to the child. This is true with humans and in many other primate species. With apes if a new male displaces the top male the  non related infants are killed so that the DNA of the new male can be passed along.

Professor MacNeill differentiates between lust, limerence (romantic love) and attachment. These different forms of love are also regulated by different hormones. Please see Science behind lust attraction companionship - Harvard U blog. Attachment (oxytocin and vasopressin) is achieved if you are calmed in the presence of the person you love. Limerence (dopamine and others) is the yearning to couple and is characterized by anxiousness and big mood swings. These feelings are reduced in direct proportion to the frequency of intimacy.

Evolutionary Psychology - 14 minutes

Factfulness by Has Rosling

In the book, Factfulness: Ten Reasons We're Wrong About the World--and Why Things Are Better Than You Think by Hans Rosling we get not an optimistic but a realistic view of the world through data. The world may be bad but in general it is getting better. Hans wrote this book with his daughter and son-in-law as he was dying of pancreatic cancer. It summarizes the life lessons he has learned as a public health professional using facts to evaluate the world. It may be bad, but we are making it better and we can measure our progress.

He makes a strong case for dumping the dichotomy of the developed world and the undeveloped or third world. He instead divides nations into 4 categories, 1- Extreme poverty, 2- low income, 3- moderate income and 4- high income. He also recognizes that within countries there is overlap. In general, as income levels rise birthrates drop. This is why the global population will peak and remain stable at approximately 10 - 12 billion in the year 2100. The population curve is S shaped not J shaped.  He points out that up until 200 years ago most of the world was on level one with families having 6 babies and loosing 4 before they children reach adulthood. He recalls his grandmother in Sweden watching the first load of laundry going in his parents' washing machine. She then told her grandson Hans, the machine is doing the work and now we have time to go to the library.

He polls audiences about the current state of the world offering them three choices. In all but one case the audience does worse than random selections by chimpanzees. The only question audiences do better than the chimps is on the consensus of scientists regarding the trend upwards in global temperature. Hans was pressured by Al Gore to provide graphs of the worse case scenario for climate change but Hans refused to extrapolate beyond the data. Activist are often temped to exaggerate to increase urgency and this may work in the short term but backfires when credibility is lost when the predictions do not come true. 

Why is this? We are fed a steady diet of news that is generally factual and dramatic but provides a distorted view of the world. We are treated to the unusual and atypical. We also have data that is correct for 20 or 30 years ago but has not been updated.

He also cautions about orphan numbers. These are facts that stand alone but have no comparison. He uses the example that 2 million babies in the world died before reaching age 1 at some year in the 21st Century. This is bad but in the 1950's that number was around 16 million. Considering the world's population is much greater now, the death rate per 1,000 people is much lower than it was in the 50's. There is work to be done but we are making progress.

The mindset of factfulness  Hans Rosling- 17 minutes

How to not be ignorant about the world - 19 min. 

This is why the world is getting better Anna Rosling - 24 min.

The Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson

Bill Bryson's offers up childhood reminiscences of his life growing up in Des Moines, Iowa during the 1950's. This book, The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid: A Memoir, follows a similar style to his later works. He describes a childhood memory then adds snippets of historical events to enrich the story. I've notice many parallels to Mark Twain's stories where he borrows from childhood experiences to create a story. The book title comes from a thunderbolt sweater that Bryson finds in the basement.

This is not the story of a genius but a kid who feels that he is the offspring of super hero aliens from another planet. This explains why he doesn't understand his parents.

The author's less than exemplary performance in school and awful attendance record will offer some hope to those students who struggled to graduate.

Bryson's friend Katz makes several memorable appearances towards the later half of the book. Katz's full embrace of hedonist life style a diverts the attention of local authorities from the rest of boys who have better connections. After an extended time away from society Katz joins Bryson to hike the Appalachian Trail in Bryson's book, A Walk in the Woods.  Bryson also gives a where are they now update on the main characters in the book.

Bill Bryson The Thunderbolt Kid - 6 min. 

The origin of the Thunderbolt Kid - 4 min. 

Birds of Minnesota Field Guide by Stan Tekiela

Stan Tekiela's excellent photos complement this well designed guide for the first time casual birder in Minnesota. I recommend both the field guide: Birds of Minnesota Field Guide (Bird Identification Guides) and the audio book: Birds of Minnesota Audio CDs: Companion to the Bird of Minnesota Field Guide. The audio book syncs up with the first edition of the book which you may be able to find used.

The guide organizes the birds by primary colors. It also offers separate entries for male and female birds with distinctly different coloring. The two CD audio set comes with a small insert with photos. I've found learning the bird calls helps me to look for a specific bird often hiding in the trees, bushes, or ground.

These are a couple of videos I made with still photos and distinctive calls recorded on a cell phone. The last three videos are from an entertaining and informative lecture that Stan gave on birds in Minnesota.




Catbird - N. Carlson -  36 seconds

Red Bellied Woodpecker - 22 seconds

Uncommon bird facts #1 with Stan Tekiela - 24 minutes

Uncommon facts Birds #2 with Stan Tekiela - 21 minutes

Uncommon facts Birds #3 with Stan Tekiela - 26 minutes

Medical Myths, Lies, and Half-Truths Great Courses

Be prepared to have many well cherished medical beliefs crushed by mountains of scientific research. Professor Steven Novella, MD from the Yale School of Medicine offers an informative series of lectures on Medical Myths, Lies, and Half-Truths: What We Think We Know May Be Hurting Us from the Great Courses.

Clinicians, epidemiologists, and scientists conduct studies to determine if these medical practices have any benefit. Ineffective treatments include: homeopathy, echinacea (for colds), magnets, and antioxidants.  In other cases an accepted medical practice such as chelation therapy - Web MD is used inappropriately as a treatment outside the approved guidelines. Anti-vaccine advocates are debunked - Public Health because children develop the symptoms before getting the vaccine. The professor notes that the original person attacking the measles vaccine was also attempting to profit from an alternative vaccine.

How to spot a fraud: The treatment is not typically done by standard medical practice. The evidence for the efficacy is mixed. Negative results are followed by special pleading saying that there was something deficient in the study. Evidence for support is by anecdote or testimonial. A standard treatment is being used outside its approved use. The treatment is not offered in the United States but at a convenient location close to the border. New scientific discoveries are monetized before the effects are fully understood (eg: Radithor - Oak Ridge Associated Universities - an over the counter radioactive oral medicine). 

There is a long line of people willing to extract cash for treatments that don't work or may be harmful. This series of lectures can arm the listener with the tools to make better health decisions.  I highly recommend it.

Medical Myths  1 min. 

What used to be fraud is now alternative medicine - 15 min.

Science-based medicine beyond integrated medicine - 22 min. 

Outdoor Fundementals Everything you need to know to stay safe

I really appreciated the depth of knowledge provided by Professor Elizabeth K. Andre for her course - Outdoor Fundamentals: Everything You Need to Know to Stay Safe. She covers knots, clothing, packing, food preparation, weather, first aid with wisdom gained from personal experience. It also doesn't hurt that she is a former U of Minnesota graduate.

Her weather related tip: A low pressure system usually produces rain but there is a difference between warm fronts and and cold fronts. A warm front may bring gentle rain for a long time. A cold front in the summer can often produce strong short thunderstorms.

She provides great tips on minimizing injuries from cooking. To minimize the risk of scalding with boiling water, do not place your legs under the cooking stove  Instead, stand to the side if the stove is on a picnic table or work with the stove on the ground.

Her tips on food selection, personal hygiene, and clothing are helpful. Keeping dry and clean is very important. Wear layers and choose clothing that dries quickly. Consider that the caloric consumption will be higher on the trail because of the energy expenditure. With shared food, pour it into people's hands rather than allowing people to grab the food out of the bag.

Be careful about an aspirational decision. Are you making it because you want to have the experience or because it is a thoughtful one that takes into account the circumstances including the weather? I remember being caught in a rainstorm in a row boat because we were having too much fun fishing. We ignored the gathering storm clouds and got drenched before we landed on shore.

Her suggestions on risk assessment apply both to outdoor situations and in daily life. Decisions are best made when rested and with sufficient food and water. Decide big decisions by consensus rather than by a single group leader. The additional perspectives will serve as a check on the ideas of one person. 

Outdoor fundamentals - 2 minutes

Customs of the World - Using Cultural Intelligence to Adapt, Wherever You Are

I really enjoyed Professor David Livermore's course - Customs of the World: Using Cultural Intelligence to Adapt, Wherever You Are. Being curious about another culture or another human being is much more interesting than working from a rigid stereotype from limited knowledge.

He advocates an approach of intelligent stereotyping instead of negative stereotyping. This involves learning as much as you can about a different culture before you begin interacting with individuals from that culture.  You can use this knowledge as a working hypothesis to better negotiate the nuances of a culture. Remember that these are not hard rules but starting points as there are variations within cultures and be ready to make adjustments and learn the culturally appropriate ways to ask for help if you don't understand.

Learning how a culture typically treats time is very important. Some cultures value the time being spent in relationship with a person more than being punctual for a future engagement. Other cultures expect people to anticipate problems they may encounter and expect individuals to be punctual. In a relationship culture this makes scheduling meetings or even arranging a time to play golf problematic. Another author's book describes an express bus in India that stopped and allowed people to get out and join in with wedding festivities on the way out of town. The ride took longer than anticipated but people had a good time enjoying the company of other people.

Professor Livermore lists ten contrasting cultural characteristics.

1. Risk - low vs. high uncertainty avoidance
2. Achievement - individual vs. group
3. Lifestyle - being vs. doing
4. Rules - universalist vs. particularist
5. Identity - individualist vs. collectivist
6. Authority - low vs. high power distance
7. Time - punctuality vs. relationships
8. Communication - direct vs. indirect
9. Expressiveness - neutral vs. affective
10. Social Norms - tight vs. loose

Communicating in an indirect culture is often very difficult. The person speaking assumes you have contextual knowledge. This is often more common in areas that are isolated and have little contact with outsiders. Individuals often don't need to offer explicit directions because there is an assumption that you have a basic familiarity with the territory and a few landmarks will be sufficient to guide you. 

The Professor also roughly organizes cultures into groups. He notes that this list is not exhaustive and may lump some very different cultural groups together. He describes how each cultural group generally fits in with the ten cultural characteristics. 

• Anglo
• Nordic
• Germanic
• Eastern Europe
• Latin Europe
• Latin American
• Confucian Asian
• South Asian
• Sub-Saharan African
• Arab

The information from these lectures will be useful as I interact with staff and students around the world on health and safety concerns. 

Turning Points in Modern History - Great Courses

The Great Courses offering of Turning Points in Modern History by Professor Vejas Gabriel Liulevicius, Ph.D. covers historical events from the 1433 voyages of Chinese Admiral Zheng He up to the development of Facebook and the internet in the 2000's. The Chinese chose to pull back from exploration allowing the Europeans to begin the Columbian Exchange with its negative consequences for the people who had arrived earlier in the Americas.

The course is not centered on the American perspective. I appreciated learning about the dawn of the women's movement that started first in New Zealand and gradually spread around the world. The lessons from the temperance movement about organizing were used to move forward women's right to vote. The abolition of Slavery started in the UK and then spread to the Americas.

The first modern war between the Japanese and the Russians was resolved by a peace treaty brokered by Teddy Roosevelt. Japan learned the wrong lessons from that war and attempted to apply it at the start of World War II. 

The professor contrasts peaceful accidents of history such as the fall of the Berlin Wall with the violent crushing of the Chinese student protests around the same time. Do leaders have the will to kill their own people? The leaders of the Soviet coup attempt against Gorbachev did not. The Chinese leaders did.

Summary of Turning points - 2 min. 

HG Wells and table top war games - 41 seconds

Nuke the moon - 30 seconds

Customs of the world: Using Cultural Intelligence to Adapt, Wherevever You are

I enjoyed the lectures in Professor David Livermore's Customs of the World: Using Cultural Intelligence to Adapt, Wherever You Are. I don't do the extensive world traveling that the instructor does, but I do encounter people from all over the world as part of my job. Getting a basic understanding of the cultural archetypes provides a good starting point for attempting to understand how to relate to other people.

The first part of the course describes cultural dichotomies such as universal vs particular. In a universal culture treating everyone the same is valued over making exceptions for individual circumstances.  As an example a public school may have specific guidelines for a student who will qualify for assistance with a learning disability following the universal guideline. A private school may have more latitude to respond to the particular needs of a student.  Cultures will also differ on the value they place on being prompt and how much forgiveness they will have for being late.

In the second part of the course he examines some of the major large cultural groups and how they fit on all the dichotomy scales.  Some groups are closely related including the Nordic and Germanic cultures. Middle Asia incorporating Russia, the Baltic countries and Mongolia is a more diverse grouping with individuals at least historically adapted to a nomadic cultural lifestyle. He recommends doing extensive research prior to traveling to another country and using the knowledge of cultural norms as a starting point but not a strict guideline as for interacting with people from other countries.

Introduction the Cultural Intelligence - 2 min. 

National Geographic Guide to Birding Great Courses

I've just got into birding this year and found National Geographic's The Guide to Birding in North America from the Great Courses to be very helpful. The course leader, James Currie covers the basics of bird identification with physical description and auditory cues. He also provides specifications for binoculars and other birding gear.

He describes each grouping of birds and how to differentiate them. There is also a section on extinct and endangered birds.

A nice complement to the course is the National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America, 7th Edition. The sixth edition is also available at considerable discount. The full color line drawings are helpful with verbal descriptions of the bird calls.

National Geographic Guide to Birding in North America - 31 minutes 

The National Geographic Guide to Landscape and Wildlife Photography - Great Courses

The National Geographic Guide to Landscape and Wildlife Photography by Tim Laman and Michael Melford gives tips specific to each type of photography.

I was impressed at the efforts required for getting wildlife photos. Researchers will sit in blinds for long periods of time. They will install cameras in nests. They will climb up hundreds of feet into trees and wait days to get the perfect photo.

Landscape photography has more to do with location, lighting, and time of day. You need to be comfortable getting up early in the morning before sunrise to capture the special light when the sun is low in the horizon and the shadows are long.

Preview of The National Geographic Guide to Landscape and Wildlife Photography - 2 min. 

Landscape Photography by Michael Melford - 46 minutes

Evolutionary Psychology part II: The Science of Human Nature

This part of the Modern Scholar lecture serie The Modern Scholar: Evolutionary Psychology, Part II: The Science of Human Natures on focuses on group interactions. How do friends and foes interact. Warning some of the conclusions in this lecture are disquieting.

The lecturer makes a compelling argument that the cohesion and sense of group identity with a larger purpose that religion offers people makes them a much more effective in fighting and surviving wars than individuals with no religious background.

Identity and willingness to sacrifice for a group can also lead to toxic altruism in the form of extremist groups or terrorism.

Understanding warfare an evolutionary approach - 50 minutes

Dirt by David R. Montgomery

As part of our book club I read Dirt: The Erosion of Civilizations and was impressed. My father was careful to distinguish between dirt and soil. Soil has structure with layers. Dirt is unstructured.

The book starts with research from Charles Darwin focusing on the the positive effect of earthworm castings on the  building up the depth of soil structure. This is good for some parts of the world but not so good in certain forested areas.

How civilizations practice agriculture and take care of the soil affects their sustainability and survivability. When cultures increase the use of the soil without crop rotation or letting it rest the productivity of the soil declines. Erosion increases the loss of top soil and reduces the ability of plants to grow on the soil. Irrigation often increases the amount of salt in the soil which reduces the types of plants that can grow crops.  Egypt and North Africa supplied grain for the Roman Empire because the farming practices of Rome eroded the top soil and made the land unproductive.

Cutting down trees and planting on hillsides is a prescription for rapid soil loss and subsequent transition out of productive farm land. Agricultural practices will need to change, crop rotation with nitrogen fixing plants. Mixing in organic matter with soils. Using low till or no seed drills will also extend the useful life of the soil. He points to the organic farming method used in Cuba out of necessity because they lacked access to chemical fertilizer or pesticides.

For those of you who want a touch of optimism feel free to explore the work being done by the Land Institute.  They are working on developing perennial crops which put less stress on the soil.  The University of Minnesota is also researching the perennial grain kernza as part of sustainable cropping system.

Bringing our soil back to life - 66 min. 

Soil degradation and why you should care - 27 min. 

Can we reverse the long term pattern of soil degradation - 17 min.  

Jesus and the Gospels by Luke Timothy Johnson and The Great Courses

I found the Jesus and the Gospels series of 36 lectures by Professor Luke Timothy Johnson to be very informative. He approaches the Gospels and Luke's Acts of the Apostles as literature and not as strictly historical documents in the modern sense. He reveals the each Gospel's organizational complexity below the surface of narrative simplicity.

He carefully lays out the rational for the Gospel of Mark providing source material for both the synoptic gospels of Matthew and Luke.  It is interesting to understand how each Gospel characterizes the disciples. In Mark, they are just don't seem to understand what Jesus is teaching. In the other Gospels they exhibit a much better understanding.

I gained a deeper understanding of some of the parables. In particular the prodigal son can also represent Jews being the responsible son who worked with the father and the gentile Christians being the prodigal son. As the chosen people, the Jews may have felt neglected when Jesus arrived and preached to gentiles who were not following Torah.

In addition to covering the canonical gospels of Mark, Matthew, Luke, and John, Professor Johnson offers an overview of the Gnostic Gospels. These typically focus on the spirituality of Jesus and attempt to fill in the gaps within the existing Gospels. An example is the heretical Infancy Gospel of Thomas.  It offers a likely fictitious account of the young Jesus attempting to understand his super powers while his harried father attempts to placate the families victimized by an impulsive and powerful child learning that his word creates action.

This book is an excellent complement to Misquoting Jesus by Bart D. Ehrman.

Learning Jesus in the Life of the Church - 54 min. 

Paganism and the New Testament - 4 min. 

Why good works matter - 8 min. 

Catching the Big Fish by David Lynch

David Lynch's book Catching the Big Fish: Meditation, Consciousness, and Creativity: 10th Anniversary Edition is a series of short one to a few page compact life lessons and remembrances about the topics of meditation, consciousness, and creativity. I heard him interviewed on NPR and found his ideas to be helpful.

In order to be creative you have to understand suffering but it is not necessary to live it. Pain and suffering will reduce the ability to be creative. Sleep, meditation and self care is necessary for optimal creativity.

David is a big proponent of transcendental meditation. He needs to do it as part of his daily practice. It is the source of his ideas and ability to be creative.

If you have a desire to be creative and to accomplish project you need to have time. Try to find a job that provides food, enough time for sleep, and time to work on your creative projects.

Ideas do not come to us fully formed. We desire and search for an idea and we may only get a fragment. If we write down this idea we can use it as bait or a starting point for additional ideas that can build on the initial fragment. Eventually there is an actionable creative piece that will arise.

David Lynch - Suffering - 3 minutes

Where do ideas come from - 2 min. 

Find time to do what you love - 1 min.

Bozo Sapiens by Michael and Ellen Kaplan

Husband and wife authors Michael and Ellen Kaplan wade into the familiar topic of human mental inadequacies with a well researched, uncomfortable, and sometimes tragic book, Bozo Sapiens: Why to Err is Human.

The book is full of wisdom and bears a repeat read. I dog-eared many pages while reading the text. Sample quote: "Marxist historical theory is a usefully simple heuristic if your purpose is to start a dorm-room argument, gain tenure at a minor college, or establish a peasant insurgency." The authors state history is much more interesting if we seek to understand the biographies of the people, the many waves of changes, and the unanswerable questions.

A good approach to make sure thinking is well thought out is to forcefully argue for the opposite position. It is easy for all of us to be confident that we've received wisdom that is unassailable and ignore the rest of the inconvenient evidence. To illustrate the dangers of "motivated reasoning," the authors relayed the WWI story of a dying French general who spent 4 months planning a bold charge into the teeth of a well fortified German position.  The Germans got wind of the plan and they were well prepared with machine guns and ammunition. The French knew this but ignored the information. By the time the attack was finished, 1/6th of the French Army was dead.

In order for some really bad things to happen "the holes in the slices of Swiss cheese need to line up." Most of us are only aware of one slice and do not know of the existence of the other slices. We should not take comfort that an event is rare. It only takes ten days for a 1 in a million failure to happen in a company with a 100,000 people. It's why holding on to the handrail going up and down stairs is a good idea. Given enough attempts eventually a step will be missed and an injury will result.

You can also visit Michael Kaplan at his Bozo Sapiens Blog where you will find a daily calendar with historical examples of bozo sapiens in action. 

Biz Buzz with Gary Brown - Three lessons from Bozo Sapiens - 3 min. 

The Rise and Fall of the Nephilim by Scott Alan Roberts

While I was taking a backgrounds to literature class at the University, I did a brief paper on Genesis 6: relating the transition from the creation stories to the flood story. Mr. Roberts takes a much deeper dive with his The Rise and Fall of the Nephilim: The Untold Story of Fallen Angels, Giants on the Earth, and Their Extraterrestrial Origins than I did. The author attended divinity school and has a knowledge of ancient Hebrew which helps in understanding the text. The author has great enthusiasm for the topic but does approach it with some humility recognizing that sorting out the wide array of opinions on the ancient scriptures is daunting.

I would suggest approaching this topic from one of pure curiosity rather than from a position of justifying specific dogma. It is an entertaining and enlightening journey in a quest to explore differing views as to who these people are. Many cultures share a story about a great flood and some of these also have varying versions of stories about the Nephilim.

The apocryphal Book of Enoch and the Book of Jubilee also provide source material fill in the gaps of Genesis and to determine more about these people and a possible second group referred to as the Watchers in the Book of Enoch.

The author wisely spends a significant portion of the book providing background information to allow some understanding the world of these Nephilim. Without the background information the terrain would be very unfamiliar similar to a Martian landscape.

While I was reading this book, I also listened to the Great Courses lectures on Myth in Human History by Professor Grant L. Voth. Occasionally the information from the book and the course would cover similar ground and provide a deeper understanding of the topic. As a prelude to this book and the course on Myth, I would recommend reading or listening to a translation of The Epic of Gilgamesh.

Exposed and Classified Scott Alan Roberts - 74 min.

Chapter one  from the Rise and Fall of the Nephilim - 75 min. 

Radio interview with Scott Alan Roberts - 44 min. 

Churchill Rufus J. Fears

I am in awe of the late Rufus J. Fears ability to deliver well crafted informative talks on history. In the Great Courses lecture Churchill. He describes Churchill as a statesman with remarkable foresight and bedrock principles. He differentiates that from a politician who focuses not on doing the right thing but to do what is necessary to get reelected.

The remarkable career of Churchill shows that failure in high school academics is not a prediction of future success in life. People pick up learning at their own pace and not that of a regimented society focused on turning out well rounded employable people. Churchill found success in the military as a soldier and a correspondent. His military success is similar to Harry S. Truman.

Churchill experienced first hand the awfulness but the occasional necessity of war. A country must have the will to fight. France lost it after WWI. Churchill did his best to instill the will to fight in his British countryman fighting against politicians who wanted negotiated peace with Hitler.

Churchill's vision was more interventionist than passive acceptance. He fought vigorously against the passive acquiescence to Communism in the eastern block of the Soviet Union. Soviet communism resulted in more deaths than Hitler caused in WWII. Harry Truman previewed his iron curtain speech and approved it before Churchill delivered it. However, when the press questioned him after the speech, Truman caved and left Churchill out to dry. Truman disavowed prior knowledge of the speech. 

This pattern of hanging Churchill out to dry for a wide range of incidents including the Dardanelles in WWI made his success in life even more remarkable.  He made millions off of his books receiving the Nobel Prize for literature. He was an accomplished painter. He was in charge of the British Treasury, the British Navy, twice Prime Minister. He received the iron cross for bravery in combat. He did all this while the people he thought were his friends continually set him up for what they hoped would be his failure.

True friends celebrate the success of others. Mediocre people live to bring others down to their level of misery. The legions of biographers and academics who view all of Churchill's accomplishments in the most negative light possible fall into this category. Paraphrasing the general thinking of Nassim Nicholas Taleb - If success is based on acceptance by peers and not by measurable accomplishment than this success is built on sand. The long view of history will judge these people harshly while the daily newspapers praise them.

Heritage and Destiny Churchill - 31 minutes.

Churchill - 2 minutes.

Caesar's Last Breath by Sam Kean

After reading the Disappearing Spoon and The Violinist Thumb, the latest book by Sam Kean,
Caesar's Last Breath: Decoding the Secrets of the Air Around Us filled me with the expectation of another good read about the world of science. I was not disappointed.

This time Sam Kean tackles the chemistry of gases. To introduce each chapter, he lists the level of gas in the outside air in parts per million then give the number of molecules that each of us breath in with each breath. That number impressed me. It is amazing how many molecules of a chemical are contained in concentrations of less than a part per million.

The story of the people involved with discovering and developing uses for the chemical reminds me of Paul Harvey's The Rest of the Story radio show.  Alfred Nobel's work to develop dynamite to stabilize nitroglycerin and gun powder resulted in many deaths during development and other uses. These chemicals produce energy by the rapid liberation of gas molecules liberated when the chemical solids react.

The chapter on Joseph Pujol (Le Petomane -wikipedia) describes unique ability of the early 20th century star of Mulan Rouge to pull in air through his backside and produce auditory vocalizations on the way out.

The author clearly explains the gases that regulate temperatures on earth and nearby planets. He is pessimistic that people will engage in behaviors to reduce greenhouse gas emission but optimism that we will engage in the difficult task of "coming up with a technological fix for the problem... [that]...exploits what humans do well - rally around a cause when things get desperate, then start building sh*t."

Sam Kean - Caesar's Last Breath - 50 minutes

The 30 Greatest Orchestral Works by Robert Greenberg

The 30 Greatest Orchestral Works by Robert Greenberg takes you into the life of each composer. He breaks down the section of the orchestral work into the components.  Many of the orchestral works are concertos, a solo instrument accompanied by and orchestra.

Beethoven worked to get the most out of his piano, which was a relatively new instrument at the time. His strong playing resulted in the physical destruction of the instrument. Piano wires breaking, pads wedged among the wires. His page turner worked hard, repairing the piano on the fly, racing back to turn the page and then back to the instrument.

After Beethoven died Professor Greenberg asks the question: "What do you do with the 400 pound silver back Gorilla sitting in your living room?"  This was his way of asking - How would later composers react to Beethoven's style of music, would they ignore it, imitate it, or integrate it?

The information on each symphony covers the technical details and the history behind it. The experience is edifying and enjoyable. I'll be taking more of his courses.

30 Greatest Orchestral Works - 2 minutes

Robert Greenberg Stravinski - 6 min. 

Robert Greenberg - The Planets - 8 min. 

The Power of Positive Thinking by Norman Vincent Peale

I stopped by a thrift store and purchased The Power of Positive Thinking by Norman Vincent Peale. This book was on my bucket list and there are many cultural references to it.

The current wellness and mindfulness focus owes a debt to the ideas put forward in this book. For example his advice to control anger, let your body go limp, unclench your fist, relax your muscles. Anger is felt by the whole body. Relaxing the body reduces the intensity of anger and allows for control.

Take your worries and your troubles of the day and toss them in a file or wastebasket before you go home. If it has been a bad day consider tossing it into an imaginary dumpster fire. Some days are like that. There is a temptation to hold onto the bad experience and take it home to stew over it. This negatively affect everyone. Holding onto this anger produces self destructive effects on the body.

The book has a strong Christian focus. This may offer comfort to those with that religious background. Individuals of other faiths or no faith can still gain from the wisdom in this book. It was published in the middle of the 20th century but the advice applies to our current situation.

Summary of the Power of Positive Thinking - 45 minutes

Decide to be happy - 4 minutes

Famous Quotes from Norman Vincent Peale - 4 minutes

The Ottoman Empire - Great Courses

The detailed history of the The Ottoman Empire is ably described by Professor Kenneth W. Harl Ph. D. of Tulane University. I watched this 36 part series as background information to better understand the biography on Ataturk by Andrew Mango.

Considering the location in the middle east and Central Asia its amazing the Ottoman Empire lasted as long as it did. The Hapsburg's were fighting them on the west. The Venetians and Knights of St. Johns pirates interrupted their sea shipping and the Tamerlane attacked them from the east. The periodic appearance by crusaders.

The sultans had to manage a diverse population with the Jews and Christians in the empire. These people were protected members of the empire performing specific skills needed, They did not have the full rights accorded Muslims but they were not persecuted.

The Empire started to decay in the 19th century went Russia pressured them and the Ottoman's failed to update the technology of their army after Europe made innovations during their long protracted wars.

The transition to modern day Turkey was deftly orchestrated by Mustafa Kemal (Ataturk) and his associates.

The Ottoman Empire - 2 minutes

How the Turks ended up in the Middle East - 3 minutes

Ataturk by Andrew Mango

Ataturk: The Biography of the Founder of Modern Turkey by Andrew Mango describes Mustafa Kemal's quest to become the leader of the country he founded. He had a vision for the country and let it unfold at a pace that the country was ready to accept. He was Turkey's George Washington. He worked to develop the pride in Turkish culture through speeches and the cultivation of a friendly press.

The author carefully sifts through alternative interpretations of events. Ataturk would often present his role in history in a favorable light and he refers to other sources to dig out the truth.

Mustafa Kemal was not a strict practicing Muslim and had a taste for liquor, cigarettes and staying out late. He had open disdain for the madrasas. He found the information taught to be useless. He found the teachers to be ill informed speaking Arabic to Turkish students who did not understand the language. He thought the students in the madrasa to use that place to hide from military service. This helped form his vision of a secular Turkish state. He turned to Europe for ideas on how to set up the country.

Ataturk's military experience served him well leading the country. He developed a network of supporters in the Military and also gained knowledge about the people that opposed him. Some of the rougher elements he associated with ended up making opponents disappear. It was unclear if he directed this activity or if it happened outside his control.

This is a paraphrase of the book summary: The founders of modern Turkey were people of the enlightenment. The people of the enlightenment were no saints.

Brother Malik reviews Ataturk - 7 minutes