Did You Set Your Clocks Ahead?

 Today's the day Daylight Savings Time begins!

Why Time Flies Faster With Age (and How To Slow It Down)

Above, at Tombstone's Crystal Palace Saloon back in April.

The other day, Larry Lucier and I were musing about how fast this year has gone. I mentioned that it is hard to believe that the clampout in Tombstone, Arizona I attended was way back in April and here we are already in October.

We mentioned that it is said that time seems to go by faster as we get older.

Obviously, we weren't the only ones thinking such. It has been the subject of studies, including some of different age groups. The old saying, "Time flies when you're having fun" actually has some validity.

WebMD has an article on this that should pique one's interest. 

It begins with:

April 18, 2023 – Time can feel like a roll of toilet paper – it unrolls faster and faster the closer you get to the end. 

Psychologists and social scientists know this -- that time goes faster as we age -- but why is that so? 

It's not just an academic inquiry. Our time perception has real effects on our mental health. The feeling of time going faster is linked to anxiety, while slowing time down – through mindfulness, for example – can help us feel less stressed and more relaxed. 

The topic has drawn particular attention lately, thanks to the pandemic, when many people – more than 80%, according to a recent U.K. survey – felt time moved differently during lockdown. 

But scientists are still unraveling the mysteries of time perception. Some say it’s related to how long we have lived – a 5-year-old feels a year is long because it makes up 20% of their life. Others point to changes in the brain. A 2019 research paper suggests our ability to process visual information slows with age; we perceive fewer mental images, and time feels like it’s speeding up.

To read more (if one wants to take the time to do so), go here. 

General Won't Rule Out Aliens In UFO Shoot-Downs

Above, an alien figure at a Roswell RV park. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Ever since a Chinese spy balloon appeared in U.S. airspace last week, there's been a spate of "objects" (or UFOs) being shot down by U.S. aircraft.

The latest was yesterday when an "object" was shot down over Lake Huron. The military won't classify it as a balloon. Also, the Pentagon wouldn't rule out if aliens were involved.

According to Time: 

A U.S. fighter jet shot down a high-flying object above Lake Huron Sunday after it flew near a sensitive military site, the Pentagon said.

The shoot-down, which came on President Joe Biden’s order, is the latest in an unusual series of aerial incidents that began last week when a suspected Chinese spy balloon traversed the continental United States.

At 2:42 p.m. Eastern time, an F-16 launched a heat-seeking AIM-9X missile at an unidentified “object” flying at around 20,000 ft. above the Great Lake. It was the fourth time in eight days that the American military has been called upon to destroy a mysterious craft in midair, including three in the last three days.

Other than the first balloon, which China has acknowledged was theirs, the Pentagon doesn’t yet know what the objects are or where they came from. Asked directly, a senior military official did not rule out the possibility that their provenance could be extraterrestrial.

“I’ll let the intel community and the counterintelligence community figure that out,” General Glen VanHerck, commander of U.S. Northern Command and the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) told reporters late Sunday.

“I haven’t ruled out anything,” VanHerck said when asked if aliens could be involved. “At this point, we continue to assess every threat or potential threat unknown that approaches North America with an attempt to identify it.”

To read more, go here. 

Daylight Savings Time Tonight!

 Move your clocks ahead one hour when you go to bed tonight!

UFO Over Arizona?

My "honorary sister" sent me these video links of radio transmissions of planes encountering a UFO over Arizona:

TIME
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yp2IjCUcfRw

FOX News
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwEXCMdx298

Washington POST
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yc2mAMjb7w4

other source
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1Tkn60ynYI
Trident missile launch? 

Maybe we'll see the UFO at the clamp-out in Arizona this weekend.

Elvis and Nixon

Above, Nixon and Elvis in the Oval Office. Ollie Atkins/White House photo.

One of the most requested photographs from the National Archives is the one above of President Richard Nixon and Elvis Presley in the Oval Office of the White House.

What led Presley to seek a meeting with the President? Strangely enough, it was to get a badge!

According to Time:

Though Elvis Presley’s music has largely been responsible for sustaining fans’ burning love for the 40 years that have passed since his Aug. 16, 1977, death, one of the most popular photos of the star is not an image of him performing. 

Instead, it was taken with Richard Nixon in the Oval Office at 12:30 p.m. on Dec. 21, 1970 — and it was, as of 2015 at least, the most-requested photograph in the entire U.S. National Archives. 

Both men were at the top in their careers at this point. As The Telegraph has pointed out, Presley was in the middle of a successful comeback, selling out shows in Las Vegas and had just been nominated as one of the country’s Ten Outstanding Young Men by the United States Junior Chamber, an award he was particularly proud to have received. Nixon, meanwhile, who had not yet been tainted by Watergate, was experiencing a wave of popularity for vowing to get America out of Vietnam and to desegregate schools. 

Presley, a collector of police badges, wanted a badge from the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs and to be named a “Federal Agent at Large.”

Above, President Nixon greets Elvis Presley at the Oval Office. Ollie Atkins/White House photo.

After Nixon's resignation due to the Watergate scandal, Presley and Nixon remained in contact until Presley's death in 1977.

To read more, go here. 

Time: "Japan After Fukushima: Is It Safe For Tourists?"

Above, Godaido temple at Matsushima Bay. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Since the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, the Japanese tourism industry has been in the doldrums. Part of the problem for the decline in Japan tourist number has been due to the western media's coverage of the problems with the damaged reactors at the Fukushima nuclear power plant.

The coverage had been borderline hysterical which led people to believe that all of Japan was a glowing, radioactive mess. Time magazine's website posted an article that seems to be a continuance of the misleading coverage.

In the article, the question is asked:

Eight months after the Fukushima nuclear disaster, Japan's tourism industry still hasn't rebounded. What will it take to convince tourists it's safe to visit again?

I wonder if anyone at Time bothered to look at a geographical map of Japan. If they did, they would find that the affected area in Fukushima is a relatively small area of northeast Honshu (the main island). The article mentions findings of traces of radioactivity in Tokyo, 150 miles south of Fukushima. I have read many articles on this and much of it is attributed to natural radioactivity. There are other cities around the world with higher radioactivity readings.

What will it take to convince people that it's safe to visit Japan? For one thing, ceasing misleading articles that feed into people's fears would be a major first step.

I have posted several articles on this blog focusing on how safe Japan is to visit. Japan is taking public relations steps to convince people that the country is safe to visit. Celebrities such as Lady Gaga have also spoken out in support of the Japanese tourism industry. The Japanese tourism industry is also planning to offer 10,000 free round-trip airfares to foreigners next year.

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2099119,00.html#ixzz1dQFp1uDr