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THE END OF INNOCENCE

You may have seen recent references to Winnie the Pooh or the early version of Mickey Mouse, known almost a century ago as Steamboat Willie.  These cultural icons are making the news because they are soon to be (if not already) in the public domain.  This means that within certain guidelines or restrictions, people can use these caricatures for their own private purposes. Perhaps someone may wish to advertise their day care center or babysitting service with a cartoon of Winnie the Pooh.  Someone...

48,000 B.C.

48,000 B.C.

Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) was visible from the Northern Lattitudes last night and Tuesday night as well, though the waxing gibbous moon may have made it more difficult to locate. It was particularly interesting because of its green tint. According to Time magazine, “Comets flare green when they carry diatomic carbon—two-atom carbon molecules—which reacts with the sun’s outgassing particles, the solar wind.” Because it passed so close to the sun, the color was more vivid than it might have been...

WE’RE ALL MAD HERE!!!

Lewis Carroll once wrote about a topsy-turvy world called “Wonderland,” where critical thinking, sanity, societal norms and human decency were in short supply. Alice was a young, naive, impressionable girl who one fine day curiously followed a strangely adorned white rabbit down its hole and from that point on, she seemed completely disoriented and lost her bearings. There, in Wonderland, she met such strange creatures as the Mad Hatter, the Queen of Hearts and Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum. She...

The Coming Storm

THE COMING STORM

This past summer, the elusive Q returned (or not, depending on who you ask.) If you missed his return, you might be excused, because a lot has happened to his community since December 2020 when he first disappeared. But Q’s presence is beginning to coalesce and gain critical mass once again thanks to the 45th President of the United States and his recent rally in Pennsylvania. Prepare for the coming storm. The illustration below is a rudimentary representation of the...

Men were born free

“MAN IS BORN FREE; AND EVERYWHERE HE IS IN CHAINS.”

These are the famous words of the great Genevan philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) writing in his best known book The Social Contract. And today, more than ever, these words are true. Rousseau, like other humanists of the eighteenth century envisioned the concept of a “noble savage,” though I’m not sure Rousseau ever used that particular term. But he pictured early man as wandering the earth free from all constraints (borders and fences, indentures and allegiances, taxes and so on) taking...

Mythology of War

THE MYTHOLOGY OF WAR

In a widely read interview with Politico Magazine, Dr. Fiona Hill, former Senior Director at the National Security Council and a Russian policy expert said of Vladimir Putin on the eve of his invasion of Ukraine: “I’ve kind of quipped about this but I also worry about it in all seriousness — that Putin’s been down in the archives of the Kremlin during Covid looking through old maps and treaties and all the different borders that Russia has had over...

The Church and the Charioteer

THE CHURCH AND THE CHARIOTEER

Once again, I’d like to borrow, perhaps misappropriate an allegory from Plato (this time from Phaedrus, sections 246a–254e). My readings many years ago of the early church fathers such as Justin Martyr, Eusebius, Augustine and others convinced me that there was a certain admiration for Plato back then and a usefulness in his writings when contrasted–or even compared–with the Gospel. In this post, I’d like to borrow Plato’s charioteer illustration. In so many words, Plato speaks of a charioteer driving...

Do not fall victim to false gods again

“DO NOT FALL VICTIM TO FALSE GODS AGAIN”

Yesterday, Senior U.S. District Judge Thomas Hogan sentenced a January 6th rioter from Utah who stole a decorative flag while unlawfully within the Capitol building during the infamous insurrection. The rioter also recorded himself on that occasion saying that he was willing to “die for Trump.” Except for the theft of the flag which has since been retrieved from the defendant’s home, the only charges presented were “Entering or Remaining in any Restricted Building or Grounds”; “Disorderly and Disruptive Conduct in...

The weapons of our warfare

THE WEAPONS OF OUR WARFARE

Today, there was a story out of New York City involving the Greater New York chapter of Black Lives Matter. Hawk Newsome, the leader of the chapter, threatened violence if the newly elected mayor of Gotham restablished the city’s anti-crime unit. According to Newsweek, Newsome said to reporters outside of Brooklyn Borough Hall after the meeting: “If they think they are going back to the old ways of policing then we’re going to take to the streets again, There will...

Let Children Vote at Climate Change Conferences

LET CHILDREN VOTE AT CLIMATE CHANGE CONFERENCES

Glasgow, which is hosting COP26, has a familalr motiff. It’s predominantly male, made up of middle-aged politicians who have parochial national agendas, who enjoy being wined and dined at hospitality suites, skillfully adept at putting off any meaningful progress (before the next global summit, anyway.) We’ve known the planet is in danger for several generations now, and the environment keeps getting worse. We’re destroying our children’s future, and they have no formal say in the process. Why not let children...

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