Richard V. Rupp

November 6, 2021

Good Saturday afternoon. I'm author Richard V. Rupp, writing from Burbank, California. Welcome to RUPP'S NOTES/FBI SPECIAL AGENT HARTMAN SERIES posts.

 

I'm sure this quote by Chris Pirillo has been around for a long time, but I just saw it. Excellent info that I don't follow enough - "Passwords are like underwear: you don't let people see it, you should change it very often, and you shouldn't share it with strangers."

 

I'm currently reading THE APOLLO MURDERS, a novel by Chris Hadfield, and immediately came across this – "He followed FM 528 back across I-45, and saw Galveston Bay . . ." I'm an old Southern Californian and had no idea what "FM" stood for. For those of you who are like me, I looked it up – It's a road that goes from "F"arm to "M"arket (farm-to-market road). Apparently, it's a Texas thing.

 

In my business traveling days, I saw firsthand the deterioration of our country's infrastructure. As a country, America seems to have had a philosophy of building new things and not maintaining the things that existed. I was glad to finally see the passage of the infrastructure bill. Here is a list of what it covers -

 

1. $110 billion toward roads, bridges, and other much-needed infrastructure fixups across the country; $40 billion in new funding for bridge repair, replacement, and rehabilitation and $17.5 billion is for major projects;
2. $73 billion for the country's electric grid and power structures;
3. $66 billion for rail services;
4. $65 billion for broadband;
5. $55 billion for water infrastructure;
6. $21 billion in environmental remediation;
7. $47 billion for flooding and coastal resiliency as well as "climate resiliency," including protection against fires, etc.;
8. $39 billion to modernize transit, which is the most significant federal investment in public transit in history, according to the White House;
9. $25 billion for airports;
10. $17 billion in port infrastructure;
11. $11 billion in transportation safety programs;
12. $7.5 billion for electric vehicles and EV charging; $2.5 billion in zero-emission buses, $2.5 billion in low-emission buses, and $2.5 billion for ferries;

Back to my upcoming novel SKYWARD and my period of contemplation. Not all of my contemplated conclusions are here. This is just the start.

 

"Never look back unless you are planning to go that way" – Henry David Thoreau

 

"Focusing on your history robs you of your destiny" – Bishop T.D. Jakes

 

A March 2019 NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC article by Jamie Shreeve titled "Life probably exists beyond Earth. So how do we find it?" provides my initial response. This is from the article –

 

          "There are more planets than there are stars, and at least a quarter are Earth-size planets in their star's so-called              habitable zone, where conditions are neither too hot nor too cold for Life. With a minimum of 100 billion stars in the            Milky Way, that means there are at least 25 billion places where Life could conceivably take hold in our galaxy                  alone—and our galaxy is one among trillions."

 

The Bowman Twins and their Clique have real-world concerns. Daniela Bowman has taught the group to avoid looking in the rearview mirror but rather keep advancing forward. They have been caught up in the middle of the pitched battle of change impacting American life: race, gender, and sexuality, as well as policing, criminal justice, and education. Then there is the migration of millions seeking new places to live because of the visible reduction in landmass and food production that has created tribalism and conflict everywhere. (WORLD BANK analysis finds that climate change may push over 130 million into poverty by 2030 and cause over 200 million people to migrate by 2050).  When you tie these problems together, the Clique's future path on Earth appears limited.

 

The voices of the wealthy white Millennial Bowman Twins and their Clique are being pushed out of the mainstream of society. Their tribe has, in effect, been moved from being a significant social force to being considered piranhas that have only protected themselves at the expense of all others. They recognize why they have been painted with this brush, even though they have been at the forefront of trying to change past wrongs.

 

The Bowman's and their Clique decide there is no horizontal path to grow and be of value. Therefore, this group of intellectuals determines vertical is the only direction they can go. They must look skyward for a new frontier. The plan is to colonize space with intellectuals like them. There will be no discrimination based on race, gender, and sexuality. But they will discriminate based on education, intelligence, fitness, and, yes, age. As they research their plan, they realize that "time" presents an interesting aspect that they must accept. Their ultimate plan must recognize it is multigenerational. It may take ten generations to find a new Earth.

 

Astronomical science tells them their best bets in finding a new Earth are –

 

• Trappist-1 is an ultra-cool red dwarf star about 40 light-years from the Sun in the constellation Aquarius that includes seven temperate terrestrial planets, which may be similar to Earth, and
• Proxima-b - an exoplanet orbiting in the habitable zone of the red dwarf star Proxima Centauri, which is the closest star to the Sun and part of a triple star system. It is approximately 4.2 light-years from Earth in the constellation Centaurus, making Proxima c the nearest known potentially habitable exoplanet to the Solar System.

 

The initial objective is to use the Moon, then Mars as steppingstones to reach their ultimate objective of finding another planet like Earth. They will need to establish many steppingstones (a means of progress or advancement) and way stations (an intermediate stopping place) along the way to reaching their objectives.

 

A catapult will be constructed on each steppingstone to provide a means to move on to the next steppingstone. Logistics between steppingstones will be maintained with way stations (space stations providing warehousing and maintenance facilities). They believe their multigenerational skyward project will ensure humans are around millions of years from now. They also recognize that until they achieve their objective, they and their followers will be living a confined life, but still a better one than many of the poor soles on Earth. After all, men have been able to maintain isolated lighthouses around the world for generations. The challenge of exploring the new frontier will keep their minds and those of their followers active and alive during the lengthy project.

 

Steppingstones will have 3 to 5 thousand people. Way Stations will have 6 to 10 people.

 

More contemplations next time.

 

Cheers,

 

Richard V. Rupp, Author

Website – www.richardvrupp.com

Email – rupprisk@gmail.com

Copyright©2021 by Richard V. Rupp