When I was nine years old my parents, hoping to feed my insatiable curiosity, bought me a subscription to Time Magazine, the issues of which I devoured from cover to cover every week. Ten years later I was still hungry for reliable news, but I had learned the hard lesson that snappy headlines do not necessarily denote reliable content, and facts, far from being immutable truths, are as pliable as the commentator wishes them to be. I am now 77, and have seen no reason to change my beliefs at any time along the way. There should be a statue of Chicken Little in every classroom and newsroom, along with a reminder of these key takeaways from the traditional fable: 1) don’t draw conclusions from insufficient data; 2) don’t promote panic without factual information that justifies it, and 3) people who make extraordinary claims should always be doubted in the absence of extraordinary supportive evidence.
I DO know when the End of the World will occur. It is not a mystery. The end, as we all well know, comes when we die. For all practical purposes, that is our personal End of the World. To fret about the ultimate End of the World is kinda pointless. The mission for each of us is to simply live the brief time we are alotted on this earth to the fullest. By all means, touch the grass.
However, there are some, including myself, that believe we have an afterlife. We believe that while our physical life on this earth will end, an eternal spiritual life will also follow. And how we will spend THAT life is what we should concern ourselves with. Not the temporal, but the eternal. And while no one knows when the ultimate End of the World will occur, we can know how we will spend eternity. The answer is spelled out clearly in the Bible.
Yes, Joel, and Ayn Rand promised us Atlas would shrug, teaching the nasty commies a lesson they'd never forget. I also read Beckett's "Waiting for Godot." But read Kafka's "Before the Law" and you'll understand why you don't understand. Best always. PM
Folks keep forgetting that newsies (see also Oracle of Delphi) like to eat and party too. When they fail to manufacture or support apocalypse they ratings and compensation go down. Good stuff doesn’t lead…it’s filler.
Your mastery of the English language makes your assessments of our life and times always interesting.
I am looking forward to your word choices to describe the folly of the Ready-Fire-Aim pseudo warlord, Trump, for his strategic blunders.
Foremost for attacking a nation no threat to the USA and for failing to heed intelligence specialists who, through every Administration dating to the Carter Administration, warned what likely would happen to shipping.
With the impending Trump War Tax on consumer goods worldwide, the opinion millions of non-US citizens of Trump --the failed warlord, documented prevaricator and convicted felon -- will mirror the 2 out of 3 Americans who currently disapprove of his presidency.
(This is a smart-a$$ remark intended for humor or at least irony: nothing personal) When are US boots never on the ground? Do they hover? Best always. PM
Joel, the smugness of your remarks indicates that because you 'feel' safe, everyone else should since the world is not ending today. Sitting here in the rubble of Damascus wondering when the next barrage of bombs and shells arrive (not with our morning latte) I'm wondering how far disconnected humans can get from reality, terror, pain and agony of others?
well at least your reality .. the world isn't gonna end anytime soon but for some it would be a blessing. Not you of course or millions like you because you feel safe and un-threatened in your intelligence that somehow will protect you from the unavoidable harm that is coming to millions here in the middle east, from /by No actions of their own. They just weren't as lucky as you to be able to escape their conditions and relocate to somewhere else on planet earth. Although the sun still rises and sets where ever we are, the human conditions are never equal to anything comparable to the lucky ones. As the old saying goes "you shoulda been here yesterday mate" but then in a world addicted to tourists, one wonders why folks are always traveling to somewhere else? like you, what is it your looking for? is it so you can feel smug/safe when you return to your safe place? and have mock pity for all those other souls not as intelligent, fortunate or lucky as you ? I guess from where I'm reading your notes really does matter, because from this location it looks and feels like Dante's inferno but not the end of the world ever, thank God ! just then end of humanity as we know it. All our centuries of knowledge is not going to save us unless we help to save each other, the planet won't end but decency and kindness has at least on this part of planet earth. Lets hope it doesn't come your way ...
Joel, I apologise for the personalization and tone of my reply after reading it again I realise I needed cuppa to relax my nerves and not let it out on others who may be doing their part to lessen human suffering where ever it appears .. apologies mate !
When I was nine years old my parents, hoping to feed my insatiable curiosity, bought me a subscription to Time Magazine, the issues of which I devoured from cover to cover every week. Ten years later I was still hungry for reliable news, but I had learned the hard lesson that snappy headlines do not necessarily denote reliable content, and facts, far from being immutable truths, are as pliable as the commentator wishes them to be. I am now 77, and have seen no reason to change my beliefs at any time along the way. There should be a statue of Chicken Little in every classroom and newsroom, along with a reminder of these key takeaways from the traditional fable: 1) don’t draw conclusions from insufficient data; 2) don’t promote panic without factual information that justifies it, and 3) people who make extraordinary claims should always be doubted in the absence of extraordinary supportive evidence.
It's a good thing we don't trust the Post-hole Diggers (PhD's) to make predictions about things that might matter.
I DO know when the End of the World will occur. It is not a mystery. The end, as we all well know, comes when we die. For all practical purposes, that is our personal End of the World. To fret about the ultimate End of the World is kinda pointless. The mission for each of us is to simply live the brief time we are alotted on this earth to the fullest. By all means, touch the grass.
However, there are some, including myself, that believe we have an afterlife. We believe that while our physical life on this earth will end, an eternal spiritual life will also follow. And how we will spend THAT life is what we should concern ourselves with. Not the temporal, but the eternal. And while no one knows when the ultimate End of the World will occur, we can know how we will spend eternity. The answer is spelled out clearly in the Bible.
Yes, Joel, and Ayn Rand promised us Atlas would shrug, teaching the nasty commies a lesson they'd never forget. I also read Beckett's "Waiting for Godot." But read Kafka's "Before the Law" and you'll understand why you don't understand. Best always. PM
Love your work. Keep it coming. So great to have a ringside seat in Argentina as they go through an economic renaissance.
Thank you kindly, good doctor!
Folks keep forgetting that newsies (see also Oracle of Delphi) like to eat and party too. When they fail to manufacture or support apocalypse they ratings and compensation go down. Good stuff doesn’t lead…it’s filler.
And guess what? A broken clock is right 2 times a day. That's my prediction and I'm going out to touch some grass
Your mastery of the English language makes your assessments of our life and times always interesting.
I am looking forward to your word choices to describe the folly of the Ready-Fire-Aim pseudo warlord, Trump, for his strategic blunders.
Foremost for attacking a nation no threat to the USA and for failing to heed intelligence specialists who, through every Administration dating to the Carter Administration, warned what likely would happen to shipping.
With the impending Trump War Tax on consumer goods worldwide, the opinion millions of non-US citizens of Trump --the failed warlord, documented prevaricator and convicted felon -- will mirror the 2 out of 3 Americans who currently disapprove of his presidency.
Joel, What is left to say,U.S. boots on the ground in Iran, and 5 weeks into a 5 day war.
(This is a smart-a$$ remark intended for humor or at least irony: nothing personal) When are US boots never on the ground? Do they hover? Best always. PM
Not yet, but probably if needed. It’s all behind the paywall in my life. Cows and dogs are easier🤠
I will predict that the first hundred years are the worst. So enjoy 😊
Joel, the smugness of your remarks indicates that because you 'feel' safe, everyone else should since the world is not ending today. Sitting here in the rubble of Damascus wondering when the next barrage of bombs and shells arrive (not with our morning latte) I'm wondering how far disconnected humans can get from reality, terror, pain and agony of others?
well at least your reality .. the world isn't gonna end anytime soon but for some it would be a blessing. Not you of course or millions like you because you feel safe and un-threatened in your intelligence that somehow will protect you from the unavoidable harm that is coming to millions here in the middle east, from /by No actions of their own. They just weren't as lucky as you to be able to escape their conditions and relocate to somewhere else on planet earth. Although the sun still rises and sets where ever we are, the human conditions are never equal to anything comparable to the lucky ones. As the old saying goes "you shoulda been here yesterday mate" but then in a world addicted to tourists, one wonders why folks are always traveling to somewhere else? like you, what is it your looking for? is it so you can feel smug/safe when you return to your safe place? and have mock pity for all those other souls not as intelligent, fortunate or lucky as you ? I guess from where I'm reading your notes really does matter, because from this location it looks and feels like Dante's inferno but not the end of the world ever, thank God ! just then end of humanity as we know it. All our centuries of knowledge is not going to save us unless we help to save each other, the planet won't end but decency and kindness has at least on this part of planet earth. Lets hope it doesn't come your way ...
Joel, I apologise for the personalization and tone of my reply after reading it again I realise I needed cuppa to relax my nerves and not let it out on others who may be doing their part to lessen human suffering where ever it appears .. apologies mate !
Yes that word" grattitude" fits in here somewhere.