Sunday, August 25, 2019

To See Ourselves as Others See Us (Part 6)

This posting is based on a talk I gave to The Villages Philosophy Club on 19 July 2019, plus supporting stuff from my Blogs and other sources.

PART 6 -  ACTIVE RETIREMENT IN THE VILLAGES, FLORIDA


 RETIREMENT IN THE VILLAGES, FLORIDA


Vi and I have made many momentous decisions while raising our children and in our professional lives. Nearly all of them turned out very good, as if someone was watching over us and nudging us in the "right" direction.


In 2003, a couple years after retirement, we sold our home in Apalachin, NY and moved to The Villages, Florida. This turned out to be exactly the right thing to do at that time.


The Villages is known as "America's Favorite Retirement Home Town". There must be something in the water or the air, because, like almost all of our neighbors, we can't help saying "It's a beautiful day in The Villages" every chance we get. The photo montage below depicts our active retirement.





OUR HOUSE IN THE VILLAGE OF CHATHAM


RIGHT: We built a house in a wonderful location on a golf course pond. We installed a hot tub to enjoy grandchildren and other visitors.


TOP LEFT and MIDDLE:  I (Ira) joined the excellent bicycle club and participated in weekly rides. I also went on two bike/barge trips, the first to the Loire River area of France and the second from Brussels to Bruges in Belgium. 


TOP: Vi was active in photography, giving talks about the then-new topic of digital photography to the photography and computer clubs. She also joined a knitting group.


BOTTOM LEFT: We were founding members of Temple Shalom, a Reform congregation.




We both enjoy other activities in The Villages, such as water aerobics and visiting the town centers, dining at restaurants, and going to the movies. 



MY PERSONAL BLOG

In 2007, I started my personal Blog. Click https://tvpclub.blogspot.com/ for the latest ideas and opinions posted by me and some of my friends. As of 2019, it has garnered over 400,000 page views.




MY FREE ONLINE NOVEL
Novel

In 2008, I wrote a novel!

 They say everyone has the makings of a novel in themselves.

 What better way or day to introduce my science-based, near-future novel to the world than here and now!

 2052 - The Hawking Plan is my free online novel. Please read it and pass it on!

 Stephanie Goldenrod strives to save human life and civilization for an infinite future. Amorality, amore and deep ethical and philosophical issues.

 What will life, liberty and technology be like several decades in the future?
  • A peaceful world where large-scale military conflict is absent.
  • A political economy dominated and effectively ruled by transnational corporations.
  • A civilization where reason is trusted and faith is suspect.
  • A "positive ID" regime where religion-based terrorism has been suppressed, along with virtually all anonymity and privacy.
  • A society where most people, including ministers, priests and rabbis are not literal believers.
  • A post global warming world where humanity has been decimated by genetic engineering disasters.
  • A population served by Intelligent Robotic Agents, certified intelligent at the average human level.
A brilliant plan to spread human life and civilization far and wide into space as insurance against further disasters here on Earth. 2052 - The Hawking Plan

 As of 2019, my free online novel has garnered over 60,000 page views (with a "page view" being an entire chapter).

 One of the reader comments struck  my fancy:
"Hello Ira, I am glad to see that you put your credentials and picture with your novel. The fact that you have a Ph.D in engineering and that you are older than I had first expected (only thought you were younger because of the sexual overtones immediately referenced in relation to Jim's not so inhibited feelings (shame on Jim! He's both married and a rabbi!! LOL!!!) for the flawed doctor who also is the great-granddaughter of Hawking. Anyway, your chapter headings, your credentials and age have really gotten me interested in reading on further. "



MY IDEAS ON GLOBAL WARMING AND CLIMATE  CHANGE



In 2008 I posted my ideas on this controversial topic to my personal Blog (see Definitive Guide to Global Warming).

 Then, in 2009, I became a Guest Contributor to "Watts Up With That" (WUWT) which calls itself "The world's most viewed site on global warming and climate change".

I believe the world is warming and we humans are partly responsible. However, the "official" climate "Alarmists" have exaggerated the actual amount of warming and overblown the dangers. Never-the-less, I favor a direct and universal "Carbon Tax" to reduce human-caused CO2 emissions.

Click https://wattsupwiththat.com/author/iraglickstein/ to view my postings there, which have garnered  over 400,000 page views and 10,000 Comments.


Some of my most popular WUWT postings are in my "Visualizing the Greenhouse Effect" series: 





I wrote this series because some WUWT viewers are "Disbelievers" who have had an "equal and opposite" reaction to the "end of the world" excesses of the Global Warming "Alarmists".  By failing to understand and accept the basic science of the Atmospheric "Greenhouse" Effect, they have, IMHO, "thrown the baby out with the bathwater".



I started with 1 - A Physical Analogy , noting that Albert Einstein was a great theoretical physicist, with all the requisite mathematical tools. However, he rejected purely mathematical abstraction and resorted to physical analogy for his most basic insights. 



I use lots of graphics, some examples below:


















Last year, The Villages Science Technology Club hosted a debate on "Human-Caused Global Warming" between me and Don Fogg.




See Big Global Warming Debate for details.

Our combined PowerPoint chart set is available from The Villages Science Technology Club: here

We agreed on five QUITE SPECIFIC debate ISSUES, as listed at the bottom of the following graphic: 









VISIT TO CHINA
In 2017, when our grand-daughter Michaela, a Hospitality major at Purdue, went to China to intern at a resort there, Vi and I knew we had to go for a visit!

LEFT: At Shanghai China Disney World, my "Chairman Mao"  hat attracted a software engineer who works for Alibaba (Chinese version of Amazon) for an interesting discussion. MIDDLE: At Disney with three of my favorite  women, my Wife Vi, Daughter Lisa, and Granddaughter Michaela. RIGHT: Brooklyn T-Shirt atop the Great Wall of China


We started with a standard professionally-guided tour of Beijing, Xian, and Shanghai. We added a self-directed visit to Suzhou to spend time with Michaela. 

A visit of fewer than a dozen days to four popular business and tourist areas in China certainly does not make me any kind of expert on this topic. Therefore, please accept my Blog posting on our trip as the questionable opinions of a rather casual observer.

I presented a talk about our China trip at The Villages Philosophy Club as well as The Villages S.K.I.L.L. Club (which is run by retired C.I.A. employees).













Vi joined me when we gave this talk to fellow-residents at Freedom Pointe Independent Living.
FREEDOM OF THE PRESS




This is a critical issue for me! My writings and news about me have been published in my college newspapers, college magazine, and national newspapers and magazines. I strongly support unfettered press freedom even though some material published about me was, IMHO, false.



I began this "To See Ourselves as Others See Us" series of Blog postings with the first appearance of my "Public Image" in the late 1950's newspapers and magazines when I was a college student. In subsequent postings I cited further public appearances of my ideas and writings. Here is a list with links:


In August 2008 I wrote about press freedom, and the rise of non-traditional news sources, on my Blog and spoke to The Villages Philosophy Club in December 2016. 

 I asked "WHAT IF ALMOST EVERYONE HAD A PRINTING PRESS AND COULD DISTRIBUTE WRITINGS FREELY TO ALMOST EVERYONE ELSE IN THE WORLD?"

Well, we do! IT IS THE INTERNET!




 My main point is that There have always been "guardians at the gates" preventing free access to the "press" - until now! 

The advent of the Internet has leveled the playing field to a large extent. Certainly fewer people will read this TVPClub Blog than will read the Drudge Report or the New York Times, but, at least, anyone in the free world can easily click and read either.

And, remember the Drudge Report started in the kitchen of a strange guy Keith Olbermann called "an idiot with a modem". It is now viewed by MILLIONS of visitors a month and earns massive advertising bucks for Matt Drudge! (I look at it almost every day, sometimes multiple times per day.)



While some of the stuff published by non-traditional Internet sources is false, I think, "pound-for-pound", it is as valid as traditional news sources.


MY TRIKE FEATURED IN OUR LOCAL NEWSPAPER

In April 2017, The Villages Daily Sun featured me and my trike in a fine article. Their outstanding writer, Frank Ross, mentioned my public speaking at a few local clubs, as well as my Parkinsons disease.
Local6





INFINITE REGRESS

As I noted earlier in this series, Vi and I owned one of the first Apple II home computers. In 2011, I purchased an Apple iPad. 



The photos below show:

  • (Left 2011) my iPad taking a photo of itself taking a photo of me and itself, taking a photo of ...
    •
  • (Right 2017) my iPad taking a photo of itself and our original Apple II and me, taking a photo of me and itself, talking a photo of ...



Ira Glickstein




This is the end of PART 6. CLICK TO GO BACK TO PART 5



LINKS TO ALL PARTS OF "TO SEE OURSELVES AS OTHERS SEE US"



 PART 1 - MY MORAL AND POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY TAKE SHAPE IN MY COLLEGE DAYS


 PART 2 - MY CAREER, MARRIAGE, FLYING, AND OUR "GREEN ACRES" DAYS.


 PART 3 - TOASTMASTERS AND MY EARLY CAREER AT IBM



PART 4 - APPLE II AND IBM PC ROCK OUR WORLD




PART 5 -  OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES IN NEW YORK AND  FLORIDA



PART 6 - ACTIVE RETIREMENT IN THE VILLAGES, FLORIDA
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