Thwarticus

Chronicles of a time traveler.

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  • Is now time to “join them”..?

    TURBULENCE OF THE DAY — e.g. the rising protests against Jews and whites, intermingled with BLM and CRT and LGBTQ+- hatred for traditional Americans — lets me think there could be gain in finding some part that can be supported, knowing the rest will succumb to its own folly in time.

    The best course may be, not to fight what has happened, but to find something that can be fixed, somehow.

    But first, there must be a casting aside of any notion that people are the same and must be treated so.   

    People are different, wherever you go.  In every group, some will be good and others will be bad. 

    Fortunately, this characteristic is not invisible.  All it takes is getting close enough to find out.  The selection of who qualifies for help is absolutely crucial, to preserve resources and not waste effort.

    Among this sea of free-flowing humanity will be some good people with potential who need help in moving on to successful futures.

    Helping the right people at the right time can have a long-term payoff for all, and may even persuade the bad to be better.  

  • What won’t be allowed.

    PHOTOS OF PALESTINIANS fleeing in numbers from Gaza — fleeing into Israeli custody, removed from control of their former Hamas rulers — these photos will probably have the rulers of Iran unsettled beyond recovery, until after their score with the West is settled, we can assume. 

    Imagine being Ali Khamenei, supposed Supreme Leader of Islam, watching his people flee into Israeli custody, in humiliation of who they are, perhaps becoming convinced of the err of Islamic tyranny.

    To see Israel as savior of Palestinians, and not as their oppressor, cannot be allowed without horrendous consequences, as have already started.

    We will soon see which way the dominoes fall, and which ones don’t.  And who was bluffing.   

  • Gestation period: 800 million years.

    SPECULATION ABOUT THE origin of Earth and Moon via the impact with a rogue planetoid, which occurred prior to the emergence of life, is probably the most fascinating story in all of science, these days.  

    The American Museum of Natural History describes it this way: The Moon’s Origin.

    Estimates are that the impact occurred 4.5 billion years ago (bya).  Life emerged 3.7 bya.  Earth’s gestation period was, therefore, roughly 800 million years, when life was finding itself and forming, but not yet “born.”   

    According to scientific speculation, it is safe to assume that Earth was fertilized by an object that was heaven-sent.

    Life is thought to have originated as single-celled prokaryotes.

    Reproduction for them was asexual — and still is for prokaryotes living today.

    Prokaryote joke: “Who’s your mamma..?”

    IF THE SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY is actually as interested in “gaining a better understanding of the origins of life,” they could start with a prokaryote. Isolate one and freeze it in some way that does not disrupt the tissue but does stop biological functions, effectively killing it.

    After a period of suspended death, try to recover the life that was pushed out.

    Lessons might be learned that could be applied to more complex beings, like plants, maybe.

    (Humans sent across the solar system in search of life on Mars will likely find their own deaths, instead, I’m afraid.)

    The trick to restoring life to a prokaryote, no doubt, will be in finding something that WANTS to be a prokaryote.

    Maybe the life doesn’t want to be a prokaryote anymore.

    Hm.

  • Origin and nature of life.

    NASA MAY NEVER come up with it, in spite of all the searching, but I think the basic equation of life is:

    L = E

    For life to exist at all, there must be some level of excitement. The greater the excitement, the greater the life.

    The unanswered question: Where does Excitement come from, and when it fades, where does it go..?

  • When little is known, much is possible.

    CHILDREN ARE NOT BORN with inherited memories, obtained from their parents or from anyone else, living or dead. Children are born with no particular identity until after having survived a few years, when they begin to remember a past and also remember who they were in relationship to all that happened in their past.

    People are who they were. That is, they wouldn’t know themselves without the chance to find out, by living.

    And yet it seems we were who we are, even though it couldn’t have been known at the time, when we could have been someone else.

  • Vote twice..!

    THE INHERENT PROBLEM with traditional elections is how it is impossible for voters to check the results afterward, to confirm that their ballots were properly recorded and correctly counted.

    That is, under our traditional system, by design, election results can end up being whatever the highest bidder wants them to be, by sifting and doctoring.  

    What seems needed, then, and worth proposing, is a federal mandate that, for every ballot counting station across the country, two systems of data collection would be used.  Ballots would be input first in the official system, and then into a second, tracking system.  This way, the official results can be managed as in their usual way, while the end score can be confirmed by the tracking system, that was kept sealed until then.  This would make election fraud more difficult to perpetrate without detection, is my argument.  

    If you like that idea, here is another one.  

    Form a prototype company to count ballots, then get Congress to require implementation of your company’s products, nationwide..!  

    That’s all it would take (smile).  

  • What is known, is unknown.

    HAVE YOU NOTICED, in the everyday world, we never really know what to expect..? Surprise events, unintended consequences, instability… And the shorter the time frame, the greater the risk of misjudging what may happen next..?

    It is as though what is closest to us, what we see most clearly and have the greatest ability to influence is, nonetheless, unpredictable.

    And the further one steps back, the more the world is seen to be general and predictable, until it is entirely predictable, at the largest scale.

    Here’s what’s queer: The things which are regard as entirely predictable and unchanging, such as the force of gravity or speed of light, are things that defy explanation as to why they exist at all.

  • Household pecking order.

    IN HINDSIGHT, no inappropriate behavior actually occurred, but at the time, all hell was about to break loose.

    She wore a hostile expression, her face inches in front of my own. Harsh words were flowing.

    What came naturally was to push my face forward into hers, to cause my nose to impact with her nose.

    “Don’t hit me..!” she exclaimed. “You stand down, or I’ll whip you with my nose.” was my preposterous response.

    Whatever caused such a rapid flash of anger..?

    It was nothing, really. It was the cat.

    One of our cats had jumped out and began meowing just as I was discussing something, causing an interruption. I reached down and delivered a mild thigh-slap, instructing it to be quiet. She protested that I had no right to “hit” the cat, and the cat sidled up to her.

    This could not stand. Something needed to be done.

    Discussing it later, it seemed clear that I was simply doing what nature requires between animals — to establish and maintain a pecking order. In obedience to this call, I used my nose to peck her into place, so that order could be restored.

    A man has to do what a man has to do.

  • Historical perspective.

    WE CAN THINK of human history in the way cosmologists think of the history of the cosmos. Much is learned about the present state of affairs by observing past events. In cosmology, of course, this is achieved by peering deeply into space because looking deeply amounts to looking back in time.

    And so it is with human life, where it is helpful to look into events of the deeply distant past for clues as to why things became as they are today.

    With whichever culture, in whatever region, the first records recorded by humanity, for others to remember, were burial tributes and monuments for elite personages.

    This implies that human civilization emerged, and may have been reinforced ever since, by dwelling upon grievous loss, with those cultures growing the most being the ones that experienced the most grief.

    By contrast, in today’s world, quality of life is frequently measured in terms of happiness.

    Have we notice any cultural decay, lately..? Maybe it’s from too much happiness.

  • Her name is Valery.

    EVERYONE IS UNIQUE yet also the same — probably more same than unique.

    But when unexpected things pop up, these define a person, because each set of circumstances that a person may face is unique, even though the person may be like everyone else.

    Upon arriving at our local grocery store, a young woman was standing out near the traffic lane of the parking lot, as though she were waiting for someone. She smiled broadly as I passed, and this made an impression on me. I parked and went inside to buy my daily beer.

    Returning outside, she came forward and asked for help.

    “What can I do..?”

    “I want to buy cigarettes but the law has changed and now I’m too young. Will you buy them for me..?”

    Hm.

    She is 20, she said, and the new age limit is 21.

    Hm.

    She is beautiful, I thought to myself. That smile, her long hair, that trim young body, asking me for help. “Whatever you want, I’ll get it for you.”

    Cigarillos, she said. Any flavor will do.

    She wanted to roll a blunt, it was clear, and needed the wrappers.

    “Why not use a pipe, it’s simpler..?” She didn’t have one.

    So I went back into the store and bought her something I never use myself, and then handed it off, not taking her money for the transaction. Not even asking to get high with her, or to spend time and have sex.

    I did get her name, though: Valery.