: About Me

I am an American Baptist minister, a former military verbatim court reporter, an amateur radio operator (NM0O), and the Philosophy Channel Manager in Arts & Humanities Channel. These are the Philosophy sub-channels:

Ethics 

Philosophical Concepts

Political Philosophy

Schools of Thought

Philosophy (Other)

I am searching for writers and thinkers to take channel manager responsibilities for these five sections.  It's about building community, maintaining high-quality content with AP-style articles and developing writing networks with other members.

I am committed to the concept and substance of better written expression: better spelling, better grammar, and more coherent conceptual flow. As a member of the Helium Editorial Advisory Board, I am also a community editor, finding minor typographical errors, formatting oddities, and self-promotion in Helium articles - and correcting them. Helium's displayed writing products are improving day by day, and each editor works to sharpen that improvement.

Helium is a great place to hang out and improve/market your writing. By writing frequently and going through the rating and revision (Leapfrog) processes, members will hone their craft, learn more about the topics they cover and continue to inform those who seek the information posted here.

I play the piano (a little) and the flute (less). Since 1979 I have held amateur radio licenses KA5FPD (novice), KB0UX (advanced) and NM0O (extra).

When I have the time, I dabble in baking, gardening, history, biography, science and science fiction.  I also try to keep up with news of my granddaughter Cathy's escapades and the weekly status of my son Jon, Jr.

My passion is ...

making it right

I know too much about ...

conflict in small groups

My parents always told me ...

life gives you a lot of opportunities

My childhood ambition ...

to be an astronomer/astronaut (despite mathematics!)

My favorite memory ...

meeting Jimmy Carter at graduation

Why I write ...

it's a wonderful release and a great learning tool, too

What I am reading/watching/listening to ...

Biography, history, and Turabian; science fiction; C-SPAN; NPR

My first job ...

candling eggs as a kid in Arkansas

My best moment ...

is on its way ... it's out there ... close by

My inspiration ...

scientists and activists who seek out and stand for truth

Sciences > Astronomy An introduction to Pluto's moon, Charon

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Charon is the largest of Pluto’s three moons, nearly half the size of the former ninth planet.  With Nix and Hydra, Pluto’s other two moons, the dwarf planet and Charon make up what is known as a double dwarf planet system.  Because of their similarity in size and the strangeness of their orbits about one another, Charon and Pluto may have been one body in the past, acted upon by a large object impacting Pluto and splitting it nearly in half.  (Sobel, Planets, 217) Pluto’s largest moon was discovered in 1978, and observations using the Hubble Space Telescop...

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