Thwarticus

Chronicles of a time traveler.

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  • Faith, and war.

    “WHEN THE WAR CAME,” as President Abraham Lincoln would proclaim, the Civil War was seen as an act of vengeance inflicted on the United States by God for the crime of slavery.

    Lincoln prayed for God’s help. The answer was to look around and find others. They are the help provided.

    Have faith (smile).

    It seems confounding that Civil War leaders of both the North and the South would claim to be fighting with God on their side. How can this make sense..?

    Yet, the world is governed by rules that are enforced by nature and competition of interests is one of those rules that cannot be sidestepped.

    With their opposition, losers have probably done God’s service by defining what needed to be conquered.

    Losers can be seen as immortal heroes, then, for standing and falling, because they gave victory its meaning. For this reason, it seems, losers in war have earned a sense of honor that should not be denied them.

  • Fly on a leaf.

    A LITTLE FLY was crouched upon an oak leaf, warming his back and wings in the early sun. He noticed my presence, turned a few times, then flew off.

    To be a fly: Each moment of his ephemeral existence carries the horrible awareness that to be still is to invite death by food chain. Yet he braves the unknown, believing he will, at any moment, find a chance for love and happiness.

    Desire moves everything on earth, it seems.

  • Good news, bad news.

    IT IS A PUZZLE.

    Human life expectancy could soon pass 100 years, thanks to medical technology, according to a Bank of America analyst.

    Meanwhile, the deepening loss of moral purpose has made life meaningless.

    Which begs the question: Will people want to live so long..?

  • Know thyself.

    EACH BRANCH AND TWIG within the tree of life, with all of their propagating numbers, are propelled by one animating force, which cosmologists seek everywhere beyond, but has been found only here, in us.

  • Craziness Index Offset.

    MULTICULTURAL SOCIETY NEEDS a craziness index (CI), to mark the measured level of craziness prevalent in each demographic group, observations suggest.

    An overall average of all group craziness index values would then yield the “craziness index offset” value for each demographic group — some being more crazy than others.

    Having a craziness index offset (CIO), a world of the future could use it to discount votes from crazier groups, to avoid the full consequences of inherent madness.

    Index numbers could be published by an envisioned Craziness Index Standards Board (CISB), with values recalculated from time to time, to keep them current.

  • A promise of perfection.

    I HAVE A TRAY of crape myrtle seeds which are beginning to sprout and grow. First, a scant few had emerged, then others as days progressed.

    Each seems sensitive to its surroundings, while accelerating into rapid growth, competing against all for space and nutrients, unaware if it will become an adult of stature, or be dwarf-like, or fail to survive at all, until after the vagaries of nature can be played out, to see.

    But, within the soul of each sprout is the belief that a perfect world could unfold.

  • Will I defend myself..?

    SHE WAS NEEDING a ride home after a doctor visit, so I was sitting outside in the car, waiting. The weather was pleasant with the windows down. A book was on my lap, but I wasn’t reading — I was watching.

    Usually, I carry a handgun but forgot this time. If someone were to rush the car, try to open the door and pull me out, what would I do..?

    Hm.

    I checked around and came up with a slender, metal, teaspoon, about eight inches long. The rounded spoon-end fit nicely in the palm, but what would I do with the handle-end..? Hm…

    Oh..! Go for the eyes, of course..!

    I had to think about that for a while.

    Could I do it..? It probably depends. How badly do I really want to defend myself..?

    It would ultimately depend on whose eyes we’re talking about.

  • The Age of Survivalism.

    THE JOY OF AGRICULTURE is hard to achieve, as a rule, because intense investment of capital and labor are needed up front, with only the possibility of a harvest much later.

    To be dependent upon the combined efforts of the family to sustain a livelihood on private farming is to ask a lot of family members. Yet, in return for their efforts, more than farm products are created. Family bonds are formed and strengthened. Faith in God grows, along with the crops. Certain practices, consistently applied, lead to success.

    Alternatives, having a more immediate payoff, abound for almost anyone, yet are lacking in their usefulness in establishing family bonds, faith that God will provide, or belief that certain practices should be consistently applied, to lead to success.

    We are in a difficult age, now, where people generally don’t know what to do, or who they are supposed to be. Yet, it is the next age that worries me: The Age of Survivalism.

    Survivor’s Motto: Who Lives Matters..!

  • Earth, Moon, and Fire.

    RESEARCHERS ARE FINDING evidence that supports the theory that a rogue planetoid impacted with the early Earth, or, proto-Earth, some 4.5 billion years ago.  Upon impact, the planetoid was largely absorbed and remains embedded within Earth’s mantle and crust. A large chunk of matter was pushed out the other side, and began to orbit as the Moon.

    Let’s chew, before swallowing.

    Hm. 

    The Moon exists, we know.  Since everything that exists had a cause, the Moon, therefore, was  caused to exist, somehow. 

    Much can be anticipated from discoveries made deep inside the mantle, which happened somehow, we know, because it exists.

    Life, too, exists. It was, therefore, caused somehow. 

    Maybe these two events occurred simultaneously — the creation of the Moon, and initiation of life.

    BIOLOGY TELLS US that life begins with an egg being fertilized from another body carrying the complementary half of the duopoly.

    Life, presumably, did not start before the planetoid’s impact.

    Whoa..!!! This sounds familiar.  Maybe it is time for science to catch up with what theologists have believed for millennia. 

    Our Father, who art in Heaven…?

  • Before déjà vu.

    YOU MAY HAVE experienced déjà vu. French in origin, it refers to the intuitive feeling that something has already been seen.

    If something was already seen, then what do the French call the first instance of it being seen — Pre-jà vu..?