Comfortable in the middle

 I chased a rabbit today, and learned something very interesting.  I received a pro Thom Tillis political flyer in the mail.  Here is a photo of part of the flyer.   I’m always curious about the Political Action Committees which send out mailers and fund television commercials, and more recently, Youtube advertisements.  Fortunately, the website OpenSecrets.org , which is run by the non-partisan, independent, non-profit Center For Responsive Politics, tracks money in politics, so that anyone can know who supports these PACs financially, and how the PACs are spending their money.  I decided to learn more about Americans For Prosperity Action . I may as well say this upfront:  I’m voting against Thom Tillis, not because he is a Republican (I’m a moderate independent), but because of his longstanding support of internet provider monopolies by large cable TV and telecom companies, in rural areas of North Carolina, where NC citizens have very limited...

NOTE:  This post became the first of several posts on the topic of 2020 election prophecies, as this became a matter of significant interest to me, being a longtime charismatic Christian.  A link to the next post is provided at the end of the post. My religious background lends itself to curiosity about prophetic words from Christians who assert this spiritual gift.  The gift of prophecy is clearly supported by Biblical scriptures, including the Book of Joel, chapter 2 , and the Book of Acts, chapter 2 .  Consequently, I occasionally venture out into our conveniently accessible digital world of thought, and look to see what the modern prophets are saying.  With an election coming up in the U.S., I’ve started poking around to see what the prophets are saying.  I’ll sum it up this way:  God’s prophets are pitching a shutout against Joe Biden .  Every published prophetic dream or word by Christian believers I’ve encountered indicates Donald Trump wi...

 I think it’s a well-established fact to anyone who reads comment threads on web-posted articles and videos that there is a subset of people who fail to detect attempts at humor through sarcasm and satire.  Such persons self-identify through posting certain types of critical comments, or corrective comments, assuming the author is being serious.  It is true that it can sometimes be difficult to know the true intent of a person’s comments, especially if one is not familiar with that person.  For example, one particular Youtuber, Beau ofthe Fifth Column , turns his hat patch upside-down to indicate when he is being satirical. Still, many viewers miss his point, and comment as if he is being serious.  He ends up “dumbing down” his satire to help ensure that not too many people misunderstand him.  But some still do – they seem not capable of recognizing sarcasm or satire, even when tipped off to it.  I for one, love subtle satire and sarcasm.  I ...

 Several times in the past month I’ve been puzzled by individuals asserting the U.S. COVID-19 death rate is so low as to be inconsequential, and not warranting the measures being taken to limit infectivity.  I’ve witnessed people asserting the COVID-19 death rate is much lower than 1 percent.  In one case, a person asserted it is only 0.035 percent (a discussion among a Facebook friend and his friends), and in another case, a person asserted it was 0.02 percent (a recent video interview with a prominent Christian pastor).  Yet, when I view the available data, for example, at the Our World In Data site , I continue to see a case fatality rate in the U.S. above 3%, as shown in this chart.  Three percent vs. 0.035 percent represents a huge difference in risk of death.  To put it another way, the current case fatality rate in the U.S. indicates that roughly 1 in 30 confirmed COVID-19 cases results in death.  What these other people are asserting is the C...

I was walking to the post office today, and I encountered another person walking her god.  It was a big and energetic god.  She seemed not bothered that her large intimidating god approached me.  Even though part of our modern American culture has become quite focused on catering to, and lavishing attention on their gods, I think it’s time to say something about what’s happening. MOST PEOPLE DO NOT CARE ABOUT YOUR GODS .  Some people might be friendly to your god, because they like gods, and may even have one or more of their own gods.  But you know what?  I don’t know you and I don’t know your god.  How do I know your god is friendly?  How do I know your god won’t bite me?  There’s lots of people who have been traumatized by gods.  People have been injured by gods.  People have been killed by gods.  People’s pets have been killed by gods.  Many people are allergic to gods, and some are highly allergic.  Many people a...

Today I observed something that I’ve been wondering about for a while.  I haven’t had the chance to witness people using elevators, due to the ongoing work-from-home order.  I’ve wondered how people will handle elevator usage once the majority of people return to office work.  It’s hard to accomplish social distancing in most of the elevators I’ve been in.  The current pandemic environment makes most people reluctant to stand close to other people, even when face masks are worn. Today, as I entered the building I work in, I finally got to see the elevator dynamic, as four people converged at the elevator.  One person got on; the other three did not.  I walked right by to take the stairs (I work on the 4th floor, so I rarely take the elevator).  As I went up the stairs, processing what I saw in the elevator foyer, I immediately thought about OTIS.  I’m always looking for good investment opportunities.  Is what I saw indicative of what is happe...

I don’t really follow people, because I’m a Christian.  But there are a few people I occasionally go out of my way to learn more about what they are saying.  One such person is Professor of Science and Religion, Denis Lamoureux. I met Denis at a conference of Christian biologists held at Gordon College over 20 years ago, shortly after I started my long and exciting journey down the deep rabbit hole of the creation/evolution debate (an academic hobby I immersed myself in for about a ten years, and one of only a few topics I might be able to claim true expertise in).  I’ve maintained a professional friendship with Denis, and know that he is a genuine and sincere Christian, and among the best thinkers I personally know.  Now, when I say that I look to Denis to learn about his thoughts and ideas on the integration of faith and science, it doesn’t mean that I necessarily accept everything Denis is proposing.  But I do consider him to be a person worth listening to. ...

I like obtaining information from primary sources.  Instead of watching an interpretation of what someone says on any of the news outlets, I’d rather get my information directly from the source.  This is why I will listen to the actual press briefings from the White House, and press conferences by the president first, and then if I have time later, enjoy the entertaining (horrifying?) biased interpretations of what someone apparently said (from both left-biased and right-biased editorialists). Today, I was catching up with the president’s news conference from August 4th .  I’ve been very intrigued by the assortment of charts and graphs he’s been sharing recently.  Here is an image of one he shared during the news conference (you can verify using the displayed timestamp).  It shows an important metric, Case Fatality Rate, which is discussed frequently, but in this case, it is displayed with a two-week death lag, which I’ve not seen previously.  In my own ana...

AVAILABLE IMMEDIATELY Position title :  National China Virus Spokesperson Position description :  Conduct press briefings and interviews to communicate the status of federal efforts towards mitigation of the China virus pandemic. Reports directly to the POTUS, but will also be required to conduct work for, and take direction from, the Senior Advisor to the President (Jared Kushner), and the Advisor to the President (Ivanka Trump) Qualifications and requirements : Must look smart and trustworthy Must be able to maintain a poker face for extended periods of time Must not make facial expressions which express pain, doubt, concern, or humor, when the President is speaking Must always say the right things.  Examples of right things include:  China virus, President Trump is doing an excellent job responding to the China virus pandemic; the United States has the lowest China virus mortality rate in the world; the United States has the best China virus response in the world;...

As a Christian, prayer is important to me.  Also, as a Christian, I’m aware that a lot of American Christians pray for the country, and the country’s leadership, in various ways, and with various motives (not all of which are necessarily aligned with how Christians have been instructed to pray, by Jesus). A while back, I became curious if there are any large-scale efforts by Christians to pray for the president.  It was then that I became aware of ThePresidential Prayer Team , which I subsequently joined (out of curiosity, rather than an endorsement of their positions and strategies). Ever since joining, I’ve been receiving daily emails, which I often fail to keep up with, however I have learned that the organization does provide a briefing on the planned presidential activities of the day (which is interesting to know), and a bulleted list of specific prayers to offer for the day (along with the requisite requests for donations). Recently, the president has said very tr...

I came up with a new team sport.  Like many team sports, this one determines the winner by accumulation of points, where the team with the most points wins.  Points are scored by placing a ball in one of the designated team “goals” (a box) within the defined period of time. One team has 10 players, each of whom has a ball, and must walk to, and place their ball in one of 3 designated goals, one at a time.  Another team member cannot approach a goal, until the referee has registered the goal and removed the ball.  There is a referee at each goal.  This team has one minute to place their balls in the goals. The other team has 8 players, each of which has a ball, and must walk to, and place their ball in their single designated goal, one at a time. Another team member cannot approach a goal, until the referee has registered the goal and removed the ball.  This team has 30 seconds to place their balls in the goal. The playing court is arranged as shown in...

So I was reading an article about this American country pop band, which recently changed their name to remove one of the words in their band name, which can be considered offensive and even racist.  The name of this band included a term used to refer to the American south, which started with a D, ended with an E, and is five letters long, and includes the letters I, X, and another I (not necessarily in that order).  It’s no longer a word that can be said (I think), so I can’t spell it out or say it.  So now, this band has a new two word name.  As I read the article, it occurred to me that one of the other words in their band name can also be considered offensive.  In order to not offend, I won’t say it, or spell it out, but it is considered by many to be a derogatory term used to refer to women, and is also a term used to refer to baby chickens.  The word starts with a C, ends with an S, and is six letters long, including the letters, H, I, C, and K (not...