Chicago Skyline Proves What?!

Most people who have seen arguments attempting to demonstrate that the earth is flat, have seen the famous photo taken of the Chicago skyline across Lake Michigan from Grand Mere State Park, taken by Joshua Nowicki, a professional photographer. The photo was aired on the news, and the reporter made the unfortunate blunder of saying it was unusual to be able to see the skyline across the lake, and that it was only possible on this day due to the cold weather producing a "superior mirage".

The unfortunate myth that has developed is that – since the curvature of the earth is 8” times the mileage (about 60 miles) squared, any of the skyline lower than 2,400 feet would not be visible, and since Willis Tower is only 1,450 feet tall, it would be 950 feet below the horizon. Since the photos show the skyline, this is supposed to prove the earth is flat.

This would be true only if the camera was held down at lake level, and there was no atmosphere. Even if this simplistic calculation was correct, the fact that you can’t see the shoreline and trees all around the lake should be proof enough that the world is not flat. By itself this doesn't tell us how large of a sphere we are dealing with, but it does prove that the surface of Lake Michigan is not flat.

I won't bore you with my detailed calculations, but the top portion of the Chicago skyline on clear days can be easily seen across Lake Michigan from the 53-, 56- and 61-mile locations from which Joshua took the followings videos (below), as long as you are atop the dunes 240 and 183 feet above lake level, or on the roof of the 10-story building on a bluff, respectively.

Besides the high observation points, refraction is another factor making the skyline visible. Atmospheric refraction is the reason why the sun can be seen for about two minutes before sunrise and after sunset. You probably recall times when you’ve seen the sun distorted when it’s at or near the horizon, for the same reasons the Chicago skyline is distorted in these videos.

My calculations take into account both the curvature of the earth and atmospheric refraction. I started my career way back in 1981 as an instrument man for a power- and pipe-line land surveying crew, and we had to calculate these things to carry our elevations properly over long distances. (I still have a machete scar on my shin as evidence, and I can tell you tall Texas tales of poisonous snakes, and what it feels like to get mosquito bites on your sun-burned poison ivy.) Message me if you would not be bored by the calculations.

You can see "looming" (severe refraction) and both inferior and superior mirages (upside down reflections) in these videos, taken in the days immediately following the airing of the infamous photo.

If the earth was really flat, you should be able to see the ground and trees and the bases of all the buildings in Chicago from the lake shore even further away. The mirages would be awesome! On especially clear days, you might even see mirages of the Rocky Mountains dancing far beyond the city!

From Tower Hill in Warren Dunes State Park: https://youtu.be/mAWAHAEvAzc

From Baldtop in Grand Mere State Park: https://youtu.be/FTFEu-Tod7s

From the Whitcomb Tower on a bluff in St. Cloud, MI: https://youtu.be/-_du4A37Pjo

Ubuntu Contributionism in Australia

While on the east coast of Australia, in the Byron Bay area, I had a chance to visit with my new friend Liam, who ran for state senate in his district under the Ubuntu banner. We were able to spend parts of 4 days together! We swam in a river, went to a film festival with several of his friends, volunteered at an organic farm community, and met with an activist attorney who is working with him to start an Ubuntu community on indigenous land, with mostly indigenous people, at least to start.

His necklace in this photo is a puma tooth he got several years ago in Peru, where he had a life-altering experience assisted by a shaman. Ever since, he is very aware of the oneness of All That Is, and also when his ego is kicking in to block that awareness.

Liam feels that the One Small Town concept (see www.onesmalltown.org) will not work in Australia, and so he is taking a more grassroots approach. He participates in a small organic farming community and enters into discussions with whoever he can engage in the idea of Ubuntu Contributionism. He even recently started a conversation with the mayor of Brunswick Heads, one of the two towns in which we met.

Right next to another of the two towns, Mullumbimby, is an odd-shaped mountain peak. As soon as I saw it I thought there must be a pyramid buried under there. And the local indigenous people say there is. And there is another one very similar in size and shape a few miles away. Halfway between them, according to one of Liam's friends, is an ancient stone circle with a giant egg-shaped stone in the center. This stone circle is apparently at a leyline intersection, and is said by the indigenous people to be a mother portal.

On my way to South Africa, I took a long enough layover in Perth to briefly visit with the head of the Ubuntu movement in Australia, Branwen Morgan. We had a great conversation and it will be easier to continue the dialogue now that we have met in person. She is interested in having periodic online meetings with any Ubuntu people from around the world as are also interested.

Branwen has gotten as many as 20 people coming to meetings in Perth (when she lived there, which was until recently) to find out more about Ubuntu Contributionism. She gave me several copies of the professionally printed tri-fold brochures she created to introduce people to Ubuntu.

Although they have been working towards organizing as a political party, she indicated that she and her core team of about 5 or 6 may consider organizing as a nonpartisan qualifier and endorser of independent or party-member candidates if they feel they would gain a wider audience thereby.

Despite Australia having a small population spread over a large area, there is a feeling that a core group is developing that can hold the space until such a time that everyone feels the need to move toward a world free of the scarcity principle inherent in any financial or barter/trade system.