A Tragedy in One Act.

Nostalgia is a funny thing. I remember a time when it seemed, to my limited political IQ, the worst thing I had ever heard a president say was “I am not a crook.” Of course, Nixon did not have Twitter so he had time to think of what his statement should be. And, “I am not a crook” was the best defense he could muster. I kind of miss those days. Days when our president spent time trying to explain that he was better than we thought, those were good days.

Even the days when our president stood in front of the world’s population and threatened "You're either with us or against us in the fight against terror." It had a vaguely Montague, Capulet, or probably closer to a Hatfield, McCoy feel to the statement, and I was personally horrified that a president would say something like that. Even worse when he dragged our country into two wars we had no hope of winning. Sending America’s children to die in foreign lands for suspect reasons, based on flimsy, probably manufactured evidence. But, it almost seems a benign statement today.

Today’s America is run by a playground bully, who maintains a constant stream of abusive, threatening language, via Twitter. He wants to start an unwinnable trade war with our largest trading partner, threats to pull out of a treaty designed to keep atomic weapons from Iran, and spews a constant stream of insults and accusations against our closest neighbor to the south and our third largest trading partner.

And now a tweet aimed at Russia threatening missiles and destruction, all in the name of humanitarian concern. It rings a little hollow in light of his threats to deport, build walls, and block refugees. He is a caring, concerned person as long as it involves missiles, bombs, threats, intimidation and empty rhetoric.

At least, I hope it is empty. Imagine the chaos if we actually start targeting Russian protected sites in the Middle East. It would only be one more mistake in a region with a rich history of pernicious Western decisions. But, it might be the worst one. If you think, even briefly, the Russians would not see this as an act of aggression you are kidding yourself. And if you think, for a second, that Russia would not retaliate then you are a fool.

And, if you don’t think a war between a county with Putin as premier and a country with Trump as president would quickly and irreversibly grow beyond any hope of control or relation to the initial cause then you are lucky. To be that blind in times so perilous and close to the abyss is a blessing.

Pre-breakfast television, not a good idea.

Since I am "working from home" (also known as not working) I had time to research an idea for a new blog post (yes, I do "research," somethings, sometimes).  Most of this research involved watching a show on The History Channel that dealt with doomsday prophesies.  According to this show, there have been a surprising number of people have predicted that world would end, horrifically.  Moreover, again, according to the show, most of those people felt it would be right about now.

Well, historically speaking right about now, about now being sometime in the next several years.
Don't worry, you should have time to finish your coffee.

In "preparation" for this several people have decided to join a society called "Doomsday Preppers."  Feeling that the end is near, these people have taken the initiative to plan for the worst.  They stockpile food, and supplies, often in remote locations.  Occasionally, they have purchased land and began constructing what they call "Bug Out Shelters."   When the whole place melts down they will rush to these places and hide away. Taking their families and whatever possessions they have time to grab.

It is a good plan.  Built, though it is from desperation, and fear.  These people take these precautions very seriously.  Spending a great deal of time, and money.  Sacrificing greatly for the eventual survival of their loved ones.  It is noble, and I admire their determination in the face of such a dire future.

This show offered a very graphic depiction of what these long dead prophets foresaw.  And, anybody who has ever lost a minute of sleep needlessly worrying about pointless things can tell you about "the end of days." Most predictions seemed, according to the show, some variation of this.   Rivers of blood, the unleashing of the Horsemen of the Apocalypse, sores, fire scorpion like locusts, and it gets worse.  It would be very bad.

What we have here is the typical cycle of irresistible force meeting immovable object. People holding out against an end so terrible nobody can survive.  On one side we have people are preparing for the eventual collapse of society (which many people felt happened with the arrival of humanity some few years ago).   On the other we have predictions of Armageddon, and the apocalypse.  An inescapable cataclysm, from which there is no escape.

Armed with this sort of knowledge my decision was simple, I think I will have raisin toast for breakfast and change the channel.  I hope the Ninja Turtles are on, they are so cool.

Hey, Friday is closer than you thought.

Since Memorial Day is so close and the week has been so hectic we, here at Life Explained, have decided it would be in the best interest of all of humanity cancel Thursday this week.

Sure, many of the Geochronologists felt it would be much better to just postpone Thursday until next week, feeling that eliminating a whole twenty four hour cycle could have catastrophic effects, possibly destroying the frail fabric of space time.  They warned that it could cause such rifts in our universe that it could shatter worlds, and "tear asunder the universe to such a point that the entire history of all that ever was would be wiped clean, and we would have rebooted time itself."

Maybe, and that could be bad, but Friday, and a three day weekend would be here one day earlier and that is worth a roll of the dice.

Of course, they reminded us of that incident when we traveled back in time to add another spoonful of coffee grounds to the pot we had just brewed, it was so weak it was practically undrinkable.  They were all worried about toying with events that had already happened.  Sure, the kitchen was destroyed by the monster that sprung from the anomaly in the coffee container from having beans taken so abruptly "out of time sequence," but, nobody died, sure some people are still missing, but nobody even remembers their names anymore.  Yes, the monster is still loose, and that might be a problem, but the kitchen is remodeled, better than ever, and that coffee was fantastic.

Obviously, this is not without risk, and we need to remember the consequences, but, Friday only comes once a week, and it always seems to be so slow in arriving.  And, three day weekends are so rare, and precious that a little risk is worth the reward.  If it works, we will see you tomorrow, on Friday, if not, well it has been fun, and we are sorry we brought such an abrupt end to all of creation.