March 8, read through the Holy Bible in a year in Power-point, with comments.

In the reading for today Jesus in the chapter of the gospel of Mark Jesus is full of action, teaching and preparing the disciples for the future. The four chapters in Numbers is good historical reading.

March 8: Mark 8, Numbers 33, Numbers 34, Numbers 35, Numbers 36, (click on the chapter to begin reading)

Mark 8 begins with Jesus as he fed the four thousand, the Pharisees were still looking for a sign, but Jesus warned of the yeast of the Pharisees and Herod, all very confusing for the disciples; they were still not thinking in the spiritual realm. Jesus healed a blind man at Bethsaida, then followed Peter’s Confession and Jesus predicted his death.

Numbers 33 is a reciting of Israel’s Journey from Egypt, and provides instructions on how the Israelites were to conquer Canaan.

Numbers 34 defines the Boundaries of Canaan and mentions all the leaders appointed to divide the land.

Numbers 35 names the Cities for the Levites and defines the six Cities of Refuge.

Numbers 36 tells about the Inheritance of Zelophehad’s Daughters and why the Israelite women must marry within their tribe.

Climate change is real and positive for the environment. The real challenge is clean and available water in the 10-40 region.

The safe, clean water essential to all life is rapidly running out in much of the world. Yet the politicians are concentrating on air pollution in the form of CO2 and methane as if a catastrophe is about to hit us. Western US, most of the 10-40 window (the area between the 10th and the 40th latitude), Australia and western South America are using up its safe and drinkable water supply much faster than it is replenished. In addition, what is left is getting polluted.Let me give you an anecdotal example.

More than twenty years ago I was part of a team that made wet processing equipment for making computer chip wafers. It involved cleaning and etching using isopropyl alcohol, hydrocloric, sulphuric, and hydrofluoric acid as well as Ozone, all potent stuff. To collect the used chemicals we had designed a 5-way output port, so the chemicals could be collected separately after use. The equipment was made and shipped off to South Korea. It was assembled in a brand new, state of the art positive air pressure clean room facility. The processing machine was installed by the Koreans, but under the 5-way port was a large funnel, going to the drain and directly out in the sewer.

A couple of years before, in the US we had a valve in a similar machine that sprung a leak, so a small amount of hydrofluoric acid got discharged into the sewage. This poisoned the sewage processing plant, and a large fine was levied. No such worry in Asia. The sewage went directly out in the ocean to be diluted. How could they be persuaded not to dump the alcohol and acid directly into the sewage? There were no environmental regulations prohibiting them from doing so. The only argument that persuaded them was economic. It was cheaper to collect the used alcohol and hydrofluoric acid, clean and reuse it rather than dump it. Unfortunately sulphuric acid and hydrocloric acid was too cheap to buy new, so that was still dumped. This is the mindset of many developing countries.

In China many of these facilities are inland, so large water aquifers get poisoned for centuries to come. These are the people we up to now have entrusted with our future production of just about everything, since they do not have the environmental protection laws they can produce the stuff much cheaper. But it comes at a price. The yellow river now does not anymore reach the ocean for part of the year.

As I have explained in a previous post: https://lenbilen.com/2020/02/28/climate-change-is-real-and-is-caused-by-rising-co2-levels-leading-to-less-extreme-weather-this-is-on-balance-good-for-the-environment/ global warming is real, but it only occurs in temperate regions, and predominantly in the winter. Summertime maxima are actually decreasing slightly, so the net effect of climate change is that it is positive for the environment.

Not so with water pollution. It is a much bigger and dangerous problem, and only by shifting our attention to it and from CO2 can we begin to solve it. To clean up the environment will take a lot of energy, and the only solution I see is switching our electric energy supply away from fossil fuel and to Thorium based nuclear energy. Here are

Twenty-five reasons to rapidly develop Thorium based Nuclear Power generation.

We need badly to develop and build Thorium based molten salt fast breeder nuclear reactors to secure our energy needs in the future. Lest anyone should be threatened by the words fast breeder, it simply means it uses fast neutrons instead of thermal neutrons, and breeder means it produces more fissible material than it consumes, in the case of Thorium the ratio is about 1.05.

1. A million years supply at today’s consumption levels.

2. Thorium already mined, ready to be extracted.

3. One ten-thousandth of the TRansUranium waste compared to a U-235 based fast breeder reactor.

4. Thorium based nuclear power produces Pu-238, needed for space exploration.

5. Radioactive waste from an LFTR decays down to background radiation in 300 years compared to a million years for U-235 based reactors.

6. Thorium based nuclear power is not suited for making nuclear bombs.

7. Produces isotopes that helps cure certain cancers.

8. Molten Salt Thorium Reactors are earthquake safe.

9. Molten Salt Thorium Reactors cannot have a meltdown, the fuel is already molten.

10. Molten Salt Nuclear Reactors have a very high negative temperature coefficient leading to a safe and stable control.

11. Atmospheric pressure operating conditions, no risk for explosions.

12. Virtually no spent fuel problem, very little on site storage or transport.

13. Thorium Nuclear Power generators scale beautifully from small portable generators to full size power plants.

14. No need for evacuation zones, can be placed near urban areas.

15. Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactors will work both as Base Load and Load Following power plants.

16. Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactors will lessen the need for an expanded national grid.

17. Russia has an active Thorium program.

18. China is having a massive Thorium program.

19. India is having an ambitious Thorium program.

20. United States used to be the leader in Thorium usage. What happened?

21. With a Molten Salt Reactor, accidents like the Three Mile Island disaster will not happen.

22. With a Molten Salt Reactor, disasters like Chernobyl are impossible.

23. With Molten Salt Reactors, a catastrophe like Fukushima cannot happen.

24. Produces electrical energy at about 4 cents per KWh.

25. Can deplete some of the existing radioactive waste and nuclear weapons stockpiles.

March 7, read through the Holy Bible in a year in Power-point, with comments.

Today there are four chapters to read.

March 7: Mark 7, Numbers 30, Numbers 31 , Numbers 32, (click on the chapter to begin reading)

Mark 7. Jesus explained what is clean and what is unclean. Jesus went to the region of Tyre and Sidon and gave an example of Great Faith: The Canaanite woman, and the healing of her daughter. Then Jesus healed a deaf-mute man, and the people say: “He has done everything well.”

Numbers 30 is short, and it deals with what the Law says about vows.

Numbers 31. The Israelites executed vengeance on the Midianites, returned from the war and dividied the spoils.

Numbers 32, The Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh decided to settle East of Jordan.

March 6, read through the Holy Bible in a year in Power-point, with comments.

The three chapters chosen for today’s reading is one chapter of Mark and two chapters in Numbers.

March 6: Mark 6, Numbers 28, Numbers 29, (click on the chapter to begin reading)

In Mark 6 Jesus proclaimed ”A Prophet is not without honor, but in his own hometown, and among his own kin.” Jesus sent out the Twelve, and they were amazed they could heal too. John the Baptist was beheaded. By the way – the name Salome is not in the Bible, we know it because beheading fascinates many. Then is retold the feeding of the Five Thousand, and after that Jesus walked on the water.

Numbers 28 is all about offerings, the Daily Offerings, Sabbath Offerings, Monthly Offerings, Offerings at Passover and Offerings at the Feast of Weeks.

In Numbers 29 the specifications for offerings continue, Offerings at the Feast of Trumpets, Offerings at the Day of Atonement and finally Offerings at the Feast of Tabernacles.

March 5, read through the Holy Bible in a year in Power-point, with comments.

The chapter from Mark contains some interesting examples of healing, to say the least. The two chapters from Numbers on the other hand is mostly for historical purposes.

March 5: Mark 5, Numbers 26, Numbers 27, (click on the chapter to begin reading)

Mark 5 is full of action. On a hillside east of the sea of Galilee a demon possessed man met Jesus and recognized him as “The Son of the Most High God” and begged him not to torture him. The demons in the man asked Jesus to send them into a herd of pigs, about 2000 or so. Jesus let the demons go into the swine, and they promptly rushed down the hill and into Lake Galilee and drowned. This was too much for the people living in the area, so they begged Jesus to leave. Jesus did depart, and doing so he met Jarius, who had a daughter that was dying. As they went to Jarius’ house a large crowd followed them, and a woman with a bleeding issue for twelve years touched his garment. This Jesus noticed, and said to the woman “Daughter, your faith has healed you”. While still at a distance from Jarius’ house the news arrived that Jarius’ daughter had died, they were too late for healing. Jesus ignored them, saying: “Be not afraid, only believe.” Then he told the child “Talitha koum”, she rose up, and that is the end of the chapter.

Numbers 26 lists in detail, by tribe, the Second Census of Israel.

Numbers 27 defines inheritance laws, and it was decided that Joshua should succeed Moses.

Do airplane contrails cool or heat the earth? A Limerick.

The contrails we see in the sky

are bad they all say. I ask: Why?

For the contrails reflect

the sun’s rays. That effect

cools more, kiss the greenhouse goodbye.

Are airplane contrails contributing to the warming the earth?

Contrails are the condensation clouds that are formed under certain conditions,

and at certain altitudes, from jet engines.

It is true that the contrails act as another cloud, trapping the greenhouse gases under it. But that is not all there is. It matters at what time of day or night the contrails are formed. Pilots, as a rule prefer to fly by night, but people prefer to be flown by day, so most flights occur during daytime.

This is a fantastic 24 hour visualization of all flights. Most notable is that the vast majority of airplane flights occur during daytime, and occur over continental United States and Western Europe.

Contrails formed during daytime reflect incoming solar radiation back into space, and this reflection cools the surface of the earth much more than the trapping of greenhouse heat, which occurs both during day and night.

So, contrary to popular belief, contrails cool the earth.

March 4, read through the Holy Bible in a year in Power-point, with comments.

The four chapter chose for today are one chapter of Mark dealing with Jesus’ parables and three chapters in Numbers dealing with Balaam’s oracles and Balaam’s error.

March 4: Mark 4, Numbers 23, Numbers 24, Numbers 25, (click on the chapter to begin reading)

Mark 4 starts out with the parable of the sower, and Jesus provided the explanation of it, and with that the key to the parables. Then He told the parable of the lamp on a stand, not under a bushel, and the parable of the seed in the ground, followed by the parable of the faith of a mustard seed, all parables relating to the Kingdom of God. Finally Jesus calmed the storm and chastised the disciples for their lack of faith.

Numbers 23 tells of Balaam’s first oracle, his second oracle, and the beginning of his third oracle.

Numbers 24 continues with Balaam’s third oracle, his fourth, and his final oracle.

Numbers 25 finally tells how Israel went astray in Moab.

March 3, read through the Holy Bible in a year in Power-point, with comments.

The three chapters chosen for today, one chapter of Mark and two chapters of Numbers deal with healing, seeing, recognizing and acknowledging.

March 3: Mark 3, Numbers 21 , Numbers 22, (click on the chapter to begin reading)

Again, in Mark 3 Jesus did healing on a Sabbath, this time He healed a man with a withered hand. The powers that were hated it, but more and more people followed him. Jesus appointed the 12 apostles, and began teaching in parables. He issued a strong warning: “All sins can be forgiven except blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.” Jesus mother and brothers tried to meet him, but Jesus reminded all “Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother”.

In Numbers 21 the Canaanites were defeated in Hormath. The people kept speaking against God, so God sent venomous snakes their way and many died. Moses made a bronze snake, put it on a pole and when people looked at it, they got healed. (Does that remind you of a symbol used even today?) The travels continued.

Numbers 22 tells the story of how Balak sent for Balaam, and how Balaam’s Donkey behaved when he saw the Angel.

Climate change and our divided nation. Is it a top priority and a threat to mankind as most Democrats believe, or is it not much to worry about, and maybe even beneficial, as most Republicans believe?

We are a divided nation indeed. In no other area is this more apparent than in our attitudes towards Climate Change. Democrats regard is as a top priority more and more, while Republicans maintain it is not much to worry about, way down in the importance of things that need fixing. The PEW research center shows the growing discrepancy:

Republicans live in over 90% of the area of the United States, Democrats are concentrated to urban areas, and in areas of majority black or Hispanic population.

Most of the Democrats live concentrated in Urban areas, and they have already experienced climate change! The Urban Heat Island effect can be as high as 7 degree Celsius on a dog day in August, with humidity to boot!

Most Republicans on the other hand live in rural areas where there are no heat islands. If anything, they are realizing that the winters are less severe, and the summers are not getting hotter. They see good in the climate change, such as we can now feed another 2 billion people on earth, thanks to the fertilizing effect of increasing CO2.

I have put in the reasons why Rising CO2 levels may actually be on balance beneficial : https://lenbilen.com/2020/02/28/climate-change-is-real-and-is-caused-by-rising-co2-levels-leading-to-less-extreme-weather-this-is-on-balance-good-for-the-environment/

Now for the question: Should we expand the burning of fossil fuels?

Even though increasing levels of CO2 is beneficial for the climate we should not expand, but reduce the mining, drilling and fracking of fossil fuels. There are better ways of supply the energy needs of the future. We should leave some of the fossil fuels for our great grandchildren not yet born.

More solar panel farms. This I see as a niche market. China still control 90% of the rare earth metal mining we should only use them in urban areas to lessen the need for an expanded grid. One area that is ideal for more solar panels is to put them up as roofs in open parking lots, especially those that are covered with black asphalt. Parked cars will be cooler and dryer, and it will lessen the urban heat effect.

More wind turbine farms: I love birds, especially large birds such as eagles and raptors. The eagles like to build their aeries on top of the wind turbines, and – you guessed it – they get whacked by the rotor blades. During the Obama administration they upped the yearly allowable kill of bald eagles from from 1100 to 4200. If you kill a golden eagle there is still a 250000 dollar fine. If we increase the number of wind-farms we could run out of large birds.

Hydro-electric power: This is mostly already utilized to capacity. One exception is the river Congo in Africa, still waiting to produce electric power.

Nuclear plants: This is the only realistic solution, but not the common U235 power plants. No, we need a Manhattan-like project to fast track Molten Salt Thorium Nuclear reactors. Here are 25 r3qsons why this is the only realistic solution until we master fusion power, which is always a couple of decades away from commercialization.

Twenty-five reasons to rapidly develop Thorium based Nuclear Power generation.

1. A million years supply at today’s consumption levels.

2. Thorium already mined, ready to be extracted.

3. One ten-thousandth of the TRansUranium waste compared to a U-235 based fast breeder reactor.

4. Thorium based nuclear power produces Pu-238, needed for space exploration.

5. Radioactive waste from an LFTR decays down to background radiation in 300 years compared to a million years for U-235 based reactors.

6. Thorium based nuclear power is not suited for making nuclear bombs.

7. Produces isotopes that helps cure certain cancers.

8. Molten Salt Thorium Reactors are earthquake safe.

9. Molten Salt Thorium Reactors cannot have a meltdown, the fuel is already molten.

10. Molten Salt Nuclear Reactors have a very high negative temperature coefficient leading to a safe and stable control.

11. Atmospheric pressure operating conditions, no risk for explosions.

12. Virtually no spent fuel problem, very little on site storage or transport.

13. Thorium Nuclear Power generators scale beautifully from small portable generators to full size power plants.

14. No need for evacuation zones, can be placed near urban areas.

15. Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactors will work both as Base Load and Load Following power plants.

16. Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactors will lessen the need for an expanded national grid.

17. Russia has an active Thorium program.

18. China is having a massive Thorium program.

19. India is having an ambitious Thorium program.

20. United States used to be the leader in Thorium usage. What happened?

21. With a Molten Salt Reactor, accidents like the Three Mile Island disaster will not happen.

22. With a Molten Salt Reactor, disasters like Chernobyl are impossible.

23. With Molten Salt Reactors, a catastrophe like Fukushima cannot happen.

24. Produces electrical energy at about 4 cents per KWh.

25. Can deplete some of the existing radioactive waste and nuclear weapons stockpiles.

March 2, read through the Holy Bible in a year in Power-point, with comments.

For today we read one chapter of Mark and three chapters in Numbers.

March 2: Mark 2, Numbers 18 , Numbers 19, Numbers 20, (click on the chapter to begin reading)

In Mark 2 Jesus healed a paralytic man, but he also forgave the man his sins. This caused quite a stir, since nobody can forgive sins but God alone. Then he called Levi, the tax collector, also called Matthew. This was also controversial, since tax collectors were held in disregard, but Jesus assured them he came to save sinners. Then Jesus was questioned about why he and the disciples did not fast, as they should, and worse yet, they picked food from the head of the grain on a Sabbath! Jesus assured all that he is also Lord of the Sabbath.

Numbers 18 describes the duties of Priests and Levites, offerings for Supporting the Priests, tithes Supporting the Levites and the tithe of the Levites. As representatives of the LORD they were entitled to get the best part.

Numbers 19 details the laws and procedures of Purification.

In Numbers 20 Moses committed a major error in Kadesh. Thy were short on water, so God told Moses to speak to the rock. Water sprung forth but God punished Moses and his people so severely that that generation was not allowed to enter the promised land. Why did God give them this harsh punishment? The rock was to be smitten only once, the second time Moses was to speak to the rock, a foreshadowing of Jesus, who was smitten once for our sins. At the end of the chapter Aaron died.