The State of the World at Present - Part 1 - The US

 The United States

1. The United States is a deeply divided country but still remains as the best hope for the West

2. Both the Republican and Democratic Parties are bleeding support from their traditional center to the Populist voices at the extremes. MAGA dominates the former and the far left is increasingly calling the shots with the latter. In each case the normative center is being squeezed.

3. Globalist forces  have less of a stranglehold in the United States than they do in Western Europe but the country is being pulled strongly in two opposing directions. It remains to be seen if the center will hold. 

4. Large Urban centers are facing a rot bought about by the Fentanyl Epidemic, poor city governance, corruption, white flight, a drop in law and order and illegal immigration that has run rampant. The Far Left dominates most of the power structures in the immediate center with corporate investment moving outward.

5. Gen Z is being radicalized by both the far left (socialism, Communism etc) and radical right (fascism). Identity politics of both an ethnic and religious type have infused both sides.Radicals are driven by romantic ideals that are dismissive of the necessary complement of empricism and racism that has historically definted the classical liberal and Burkean conservative heritage of the nation.

6. The trajecctory has a negative prognosis unless cooler and more calculating heads can prevail. There is an urgent need for an emergent and non-compromised centrism.

7. Donald Trump is a divisive President but so were Messrs Bush II, Obama and Biden. However Trunp's policies on reinforcing border control, rolling back DEI and flexing US muscle against his BRICS adversaries is most welcome. Whether these policies hold for the reamainder of his term or are reversed by a future Democratic Party leadership remains to be seen.

8. Without a strong US on the global front international politics will be dominated by China, Russia and the various Middle Eastern powers. This will likely lead to more turmoil. US hegemony is not a perfect solution (far from it) but it is a better option than the alternatives of America rebranding itself as a European analogue (viz. Germany, France or Britain) or even worse still adopting an American First policy that will needlessly empower authoritarian forces across the globe.

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10 Quick Facts about the New Testament

 

1.       It contains 27 books that are divided into four categories: Gospels, Acts, Epistles and Revelations. Number of books in each category are four, one, twenty one and one respectively.

2.       It contains over 180,000 words, 7959 verses and 260 Chapters.  It makes up 75% of the Christian bible. The other 75% is the Old Testament.

3.       There are four Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Luke is the longest of the four (19,482 words) and Mark the shortest (11,304 Marks).

4.       Although Matthew appears first in the New Testament. It is believed that Mark was written first. Some scholars disagree though with this mainstream assertion and believe that both Luke and Matthew preceded Mark and are derived from a lost Q source..

5.       The Gospels tell the story of Christ – his life  and ministering, death and resurrection.

6.       The first three Gospels - Matthew, Mark and Luke – have a similar style and appear to come from the same or a related source. They are known as the synoptic gospels. Best approximate dates for writing Mark - 70CE, Matthew and Luke – 80CE, John – 100CE.

7.       Most scholars believe the gospels were a product of a school of thought rather than a single character.

8.       All the Gospels were written in Koine Greek although there may be an Aramaic source behind this.

9.       Matthew appears to be written to a Jewish audience while Luke focuses on a Gentile readership.

10.   The Pauline Epistles are actually older than the Gospels. There are 13 books here of which the Letter to Galatians ad Second Thessalonians are the oldest (49-51 CE).

Structured Learning Program

 I have day-to-day responsibilities as a father and husband that I take very seiously but I also personally commited to enhancing my knowledge of the world with an eye towards elucidating truths. The following is a list of topics that I have been looking at of late (ie, over the last month).

1. The Origin of the Tanakh

2. The evolution of Jewish philosophy

3. The development of the New Testament

4. Schisms in Judaism and Christianity

5. The origins and Expansion of Islam

An overriding understanding of the origins and historical development of anti-semitism is a primary interest of mine.

After Death Possiblities

What happens to us after we die?

I have absolutely no idea. Although I figure it will be one of these ten situations.

1.      We cease to exist completely in all dimensions.

2.      We are recycled and reborn as humans somewhere else on Earth.

3.      We join with a singularity so that our consciousness becomes one with the new medium.

4.      We are reborn as a life form somewhere else in the universe.

5.      We are reborn as a non-human life forms on Earth.

6.      We join with another consciousness and are reborn in some form or another.

7.      We move into another dimension that our living consciousness here on Earth cannot comprehend.

8.      We ascend to the paradise described in traditional views of heaven. Never to be reborn again.

9.      We are reborn in another world but keep our knowledge gained from the previous life.

10   We (or at least some of us) become 'angels' or messengers. Building new worlds across the universe that will themselves be populated by life

Scientific materialism would suggest the first option.  I am personally hoping for the singularity.

Personal Tastes

 Areas of the book store I gravitate to

1. History - I am especially interested in books on British, Jewish,  Ancient, Cold War and WWII history.

2. Science Section - Physics, Evolutionary Theory and the debunking of Junk Sciences(Misconceptions) are areas of focus. 

3. Current Events - The geopolitical lanscape is fascinating but I am selective as there is a great deal of populist trash from all sides of the political spectrum that has polluted this area.

4. Philosophy - Consciousness, Political Philosophy (including the history of Philosophy) and the nature of G-d are the troika here that I most enjoy.

5. Sports - Football (Soccer), Track and field and tennis are my typical go to topics.

6. Social Science - Economic Theories, civilizational decline, the future of society and psychometrics are at the top of my list.

15 Well Established Organizations that have been corrupted by ideological rot

 (Will add to this later)

1. United Nations and its sister organizations

 2. WHO

3. CDC - can hopefully be turned around under Trump although I doubt it

4. BBC, ABC (Australia), CBC (Canada).

5. New York Times

6. Harvard and Colombia University

7. The US Democratic Party

8. The British Labour Party

9. The British Conservative Party

10. British Policing Infrastructure

11. Harvard and Colombia Universities

12. CNN

13.The Canadian Liberal Party

14. ICJ

15. The Australian Labour Party

16 Pro-Russian Information sources in the Western Media

All of these individuals consistently mouth pro-Putin talking points in the media. All of them need to be viewed through this lens. While they may have moments of insight elsewhere they are mot to be trusted within the Russian/Ukranian or Middle East context.

1. Tucker Carlson 

2. Glenn Greenwald

3. Julian Assange

4. Jeffrey Sachs

5. Dave Smith

6. Max Blumenthal

7. Scott Ritter

8. Abby Martin

9. Kim Iverson

10. Jack Posobiec

11. George Galloway

12. Jackson Hinckle

13 Douglas Macgregor

14. Breaking Point Team

15. Aaron Mate

16. Katie Helper