Schrodinger’s End Times

Radio

^        When I was growing up the folks had this truly magical, as far as I was concerned, radio. It was kind of a creamy white with a gold colored dial. The top half of the dial was AM radio. The bottom half—the world! It could not have been an expensive radio if the folks had it.

^        The bottom half of the dial was a wonderland. We could get stuff from all over the world especially late at night or under certain atmospheric conditions that we knew nothing about. It required a delicate touch on the bottom half of that dial that foreign voices would speak out from along with conversations from Ham radio operators. The slightest twitch and the carefully tuned in station was lost.

Panic in the streets.

^        It was on one of those searches of the radio cosmos that I tuned in a preacher talking about the “END TIMES” that we were living in and that very soon life as we knew it would be over. Other than going to church with my grandma when I stayed with them in Missouri sans parents we were not religious folks then. I was scared enough to ask my dad about it the next day. Dad said, “They’ve been scaring people with that crap since I was a kid. Don’t worry about it!”

^        As far as I was concerned then Dad was the final authority. Case closed.

Kill the white man!

^        My last duty station is the Army was in Giessen, Germany. We were housed in old German barracks. The Germans were housed in the new barracks. That’s where I spent the last 5 months of my four year hitch. The Army would send people close to getting out overseas to a better duty assignment. Guys would like what they saw of Europe and reenlist. Then the Army would send them to Viet Nam. I passed on reenlisting. I’d had enough fun.

^        I was in our four man room late one night writing a letter home. All the other guys were either out on leave or at their duty station. It was quiet. One of their radios had been playing all day. I didn’t bother turning it off. One of the brothers had it set on a pirate radio station. This station was transmitting from somewhere off the coast if I remember correctly.

^        Anyway a program came on where some guy was saying over and over, “We must kill the white man. We must rise up and kill the white man. We must kill the white man. Kill the white man. Kill the white man.” Over and over and over. Non-stop. It was just playing in the background and I just ignored it and kept writing. I should mention here that there were some racial tensions in the Army during the time I served. As I was writing along I remember thinking yes we must rise up and kill the white man. I had to stop and look down to make sure that I hadn’t actually written that. I was and in fact am white. That’s when I realized that perhaps I should get up off my ass and turn the radio off.

^        A couple of my room mates were brothers and good friends. I would listen to the sermons that Will’s church sent him via audio recordings. They were great. I mean foot stompin’ “Yes, Jesus” great. Will was also a loan shark. I was also their barber. I couldn’t cut a white guy’s hair to save my life but I could cut a modified (short) afro easy peasy.

^        There weren’t any uprisings of mass killings while I was there. The point is in case you’re wondering if there is one is that having the same message delivered over and over can have an effect. It does. That’s what we’re living today.

Not an expert.

^        When I first started to read the bible in earnest it seemed obvious to me that the people of the time thought that Jesus was coming back sooner rather than later. Some thought that he would come back in their lifetime. I had explained to me later that this was not in fact the case. Obviously. Two thousand years have passed. Men that had a much deeper understanding of the bible than regular people have figured out a way to explain the discrepancy of a few thousand years.

^        So if somebody just finds a bible and tries to figure it out or apply what they have learned on their own they will more than likely get it wrong unless they have an expert or at least someone more knowledgeable on hand to explain things to them.

 Experts needed. Apply within.

^        In other words when I read that God had a plan for that one guy and thought that God just had a plan for that one guy I didn’t know that I was wrong about that. God in spite of our free will has a plan for all of us. So when I a guy steps out and gets hit by a bus God planned that. Miscarriages? God’s plan.

^        Where I might read a verse and think that it’s okay to kill a disrespectful kid an expert can explain that this is not the case and perhaps just a good talking to and grounding might be more appropriate. Or if you’re a Southern Baptist just give the unrepentant tot the thrashing of their life.

^        I’m just going to leave that whole the proper way of sacrificing of animals alone other than to say that they must have had very sharp knives back then. What a mess! Interestingly no one ever talks about who is going to clean that mess up afterwards. I’m going to guess a woman or women depending upon the size of the sacrifice.

^        Suffice it to say that the bible isn’t really a standalone book unless an expert happens to have left a really really good set of Cliff Notes with it.

^        We need guidance! Case in point right here.

 Back to the End.

^        I talked about the End back at the beginning of this. Technically people that didn’t know any better have thought that they were living in the End Times since the time of Jesus. So we are both living in the End Times and Not living in the End Times until we are actually in the End Times whether we know it or not. So the people that are always predicting the End Times are both right and not right unless there’s a cutoff point at some point in the past that I haven’t had explained to me yet by a person that knows.

^        There could be a cutoff date say a few hundred or thousand years back where those that predicted the End Times were actually deemed to be wrong. Expiration date exceeded. Out of warranty. Sorry buddy or budette take that class over.

^        This is how guys like Copeland end up making $300 million dollars off of rubes. He knows. Or at least he says he knows. Try and prove him wrong. Can’t be done. Can’t prove him right either. Well there is a way.

Jesus.

^        He either has to show his face or he doesn’t. Depends upon the time frame. We’re either deep into the End Times or just starting. Depends upon what expert you’re dealing with. If you like scary apocalyptic movies go with that expert. They know. Or they don’t. Could be that they’re just a fake prophet or smoking a little too much of the good stuff. Depends upon what their Godometer is forecasting at the time.

Who’s to know?

^        Here’s what I do know.

^        Don’t drink the Koolaid!

^        If your pastor is telling you that you need to all get close together in the middle of a pandemic they are bat shit crazy and endangering people including all the innocent bystanders that come into contact with the flock. LEAVE. Jesus doesn’t want you dead! Jesus doesn’t want other people to die because of you.

^        Team Trump jesus may not care if you’re dead but the real Jesus doesn’t want you dead. Jesus doesn’t need the Constitution to be believed in. Not a part of the Good News.

^        Holy Spirit is with you wherever you are. Jesus is not confined to four walls. Pray to God wherever you are. God is there.

Go with God.

 

Leave the swamp [Government]

        My original title “The now possible nuclear apocalypse” was just too much of a downer so I went with the swamp title instead. I get to the swamp part right after Armageddon.

        NOTE:  Ever since the election I have been receiving Russian internet traffic at my blog. Before the election and my writing any political pieces I had zero traffic originating from Russia or any of the Baltic States. Zero.

        Nuclear contamination can last for thousands of years. Life in some areas is simply not sustainable. Look at how much damage just one nuclear reactor messing up can cause. Chernobyl. 1,600 square miles contaminated from one accident. Millions of people affected by radioactivity that spread far beyond the area. A financial cost in the billions of dollars. The Fukushima reactor damage is another ongoing nuclear disaster that has also cost billions of dollars and is contaminating the ocean. In all instances involving nuclear materials clean up and decontamination will go on for generations. And we’re talking about nuclear accidents not weapons.

        People seem to have forgotten that the new Russian friend/s of our President Donald Trump as well as a significant portion of our population have thousands of nuclear weapons at their disposal. Most of them are pointed at us. They have a thousand or so ready to go immediately that are targeting our cities and military installations. To make matters worse their leader, Vladimir Putin, approved invading another country and was successful in pulling it off right in front of the world.

        People also seem to have forgotten about the Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD) doctrine of the cold war mechanics are still active. In other words if two sides get involved everybody dies. No winners. And I mean everybody! The entire world goes. If one nation like France, India or Pakistan just set off their nuclear weapons in place the same result would be accomplished. It would just take the rest of the world longer to succumb.

        The Russians now have a drone submarine that can carry a large multi-megaton nuclear warhead. The sub goes fast enough to outrun torpedoes. It would detonate offshore. The tens of millions not killed instantly in the blast would die of radioactivity within a short amount of time.

        The problem with the MAD doctrine is it only works if its conclusion is accepted. If the head of a nuclear power thinks that they can use nuclear weapons and not set off a large retaliatory response that becomes a problem as well. In other words they do a strategic preemptive strike.

        Let’s say the Russians use six of their drone subs against us simultaneously. Their subs get a free pass to our territorial waters. Two for the east coast. Two for the west coast. One for the Gulf coast around Texas City. One for Hawaii. If a multi-megaton nuclear device were set off in Puget Sound they would probably see the glow in San Diego if there was a San Diego left.

        If their timing was right, like during an inauguration, they would get most of our leadership. A decision would have to be made quickly to respond or not. Somebody in the line of succession is supposed to be in a secure location but I’m not sure that a 100 megaton blast would leave too much in the way of communications. Having the successor airborne would be a nice alternative.

         But if the attack came without warning and there was no indication of identity who would they hit? Tens of millions of people dead. Both coasts devastated. The Russians and Chinese claiming innocence or blaming terrorists. Who is in charge? Do they commit what is left in retaliation? It’s really hard to predict. Nothing else would really have to happen at that point. The world would be in a hold pattern.

        For a long time I have believed that concentrating our government in one place just serves to make the place an attractive target.

        There has been a lot of talk about draining the swamp when it comes to Washington. How about leaving the swamp? In this age of technology and electronic communication why is it necessary to concentrate people physically in the same area in this era of big screen TVs?

        We elect people and send them to Washington. They make trips back to keep in touch with their constituents but they become part of the environment that they are surrounded with on a daily basis. They often buy their million dollar plus homes there. They can keep token accommodations in their home states. They can rent a room in a friend’s house and satisfy residency requirements.

        Congress could be convened electronically. Regions could be created that would serve several states. Initially military installations could be converted to provide secure meeting facilities for various regions.

        Meetings would still be convened at the Capital for those that wanted to continue meeting there. That would be one of the regions. A Senator or House member doesn’t have to physically touch people in order to meet with them. This might complicate things for lobbyists and those from financial institutions who like to schmooze and party with elected officials. There could be an increase in the number of lobbyists that would be needed to cover the various regions.

        On a very positive note it would bring elected officials home or at least closer to home. Close enough to drive home on weekends and hob nob with local people. They could mingle more with the hoi polloi. They would be more accessible to those that they serve.

        Civilian meeting places could be built as well. They could be constructed with suites suitable for elected officials that couldn’t make it home overnight. They could build their million dollar homes in their home states. They would be creating jobs where it counts for them.

        Most importantly our leadership would be spread out with there being less chance of large numbers being wiped out during an attack.