An Amazing Family

I was trolling the net and I stumbled upon a news cast of an actually uplifting story about a remarkable family, the Hartleys, that is raising two daughters with Microcephaly (which is what the Zika virus can cause.)  This family could be looked at as a beacon of hope in a time when people are afraid and have no answers.  But to those of us whose kids are already born, this is an inspiring story of what it means to be family.

Below is the family blog.  They are truly uplifting and serve as a example to us all.

http://www.thehartleyhooligans.com/2016/02/code-yellow-saga-continues.html

Vulcan & Mars

Mars was the Roman god of war.  Vulcan was the Roman god of fire and was good with metalworking and forging of weapons.  Can you imagine the chaos that Vulcan could produce with his fires, then Mars move in to incite war among peoples? 

During this last week there have been earthquakes around the world from Japan to Ecuador.  Our sympathies go to families of victims, and hope for the survivors.  It was long ago thought that Vulcan caused the fire from volcanoes.  We know now that volcanoes, whose name comes from Vulcan, are caused by the magma coming up from along the edges of tectonic plates, like the volcanoes around the "Ring of Fire" surrounding the Pacific plate, or from "hot spots" like in the case of Hawaii, USA.  Sometimes around the ring of fire, shifting magma causes the plates to slide together or away from each other, or sideways erupting in an earthquake.  We understand these why these earthquakes and volcanoes exist.  An interesting volcano happens to be North Korea's Mt. Paektu, which has been in the news recently. Mt. Paektu is an active stratovolcano, which means that it is made of layers, or strata, of ash, hardened lava and pumice (yes, like the pumice you buy in the store).  A volcano similar to it is Mt. Vesuvius near Naples, Italy.

Also interesting has been a hoax about the planet Mars glowing green this coming Wednesday, April 20th due to some planetary conjunction.  Our friends at Space.com refute that this will occur.  Too bad.  Sound like it could've been something right out of a Marvin the Martian cartoon courtesy of Warner Brothers. 

Retrospect Religion and Servants of God

The other day I met a man at a bakery who assumed that my friends and I were from a church for whatever reason, perhaps the time of morning.  He initiated the conversation with us over our town's sewer that is being implemented.  As my friends left, he turned the conversation to religious matters that he wanted to get off his chest. 

I am astounded at the need for people to relieve themselves of guilt for not attending any type of church, and feeling like they need to apologize for it.  In this gentleman's case, he was saying that he is afraid of offending anyone, therefore he won't go to any service.  His wife on the other hand does attend some form of religious service and doesn't care if she offends anyone.  The absurdity of the conversation based in guilt made me wonder how many people go through this self doubt, which this man apparently had. 

I met a woman yesterday who is friends with the sister of a Servant of God, Cora Evans.  Servant of God is the designation given to a holy person before the Catholic Church/Holy See decides there are enough miracles and other works done in their name before that person is considered "Blessed."  After that, with more miracles, the person can be canonized a "Saint".

It is amazing the surety of faith Cora Evans had, and what great trust.  She had no need for self doubt, or worry about being led astray.  Her faith saved her from these things.  It made me wonder if people who practice a faith are indeed happier, more confident, and settled because their lives are secure in their faith versus those like the man encountered at the donut shop.  I guess we'll never know. 

Contested Convention

With the big wins yesterday we are one step closer to a contested convention.  This means that no one contender has a majority of votes in an primary election, in this case, for the Republican party for their presidential nomination.  So, as an American voter, what can I expect? 

It means that there will be a lot of talking and debating in the Republican party as they try to broker deals.  It could even lead to some fist fights within their congress, but probably not.  More than likely as a general public we may hear really great reasons why certain candidates are strong and should be supported by the party, as well as greater communication within the party and new associations leading to a stronger party.  As a nation we should be paying attention.  There are many hard questions being asked around the world right now, questions about ISIL in Syria, nuclear threat in North Korea, the continuing refugee crisis, the dollar's depreciation, inflation looming with the increase of minimum wage, and more.  These are the things that the next president will be facing.  These are the things that the contested convention will have to weigh in looking at someone the party will stand behind as they honor the voters' wishes. 

This is history in the making and we're all a part of it.  It won't be left up to chance like that 3 point shot Villanova made to win in the final game of March Madness. 

March Maddness

I would be so remiss if I let March Madness slip by without a mention.  Yeah, all my favorite teams are knocked out of the brackets already.   We are down to the final four teams: Villanova, Oklahoma, Syracuse, and University of North Carolina.  There is something enchanting about watching college basketball.  Maybe it is the idea of revisiting the excitement of youthful days of getting into games for free as college students during the regular season and hearing the crowd echo around the bleachers of an enclosed court.  Whatever it is, it remains a big event in homes across America. 

This year the idea of March Madness has been subdued in my particular household with all the Trump happenings and curious teenagers wanting to understand better how primary elections work, and what outrageous thing candidates (or their campaign managers) will do.  The Lewandowski incident actually incited a huge debate amongst the college crowd that I was with the other night.  Many of the young people didn't think that what he did was assault and thought the entire thing ludicrous and not worth airtime or an arrest/civil suit.  Others wondered how it would effect current abuse laws, would it make them stricter, or relax existing ones.  One or two people tried to explain how the simple act of grabbing another person's arm and pulling it is absolutely abuse.  However, if someone were about to get hit by a car, then it wouldn't be: they started pulling out so many exceptions.  Are the younger generations right?  Was it no big deal? 

There are so many other things to be thinking of and puzzling over.  The European Space Agency has proposed a moon village.  I wonder how long until they have fast food once the domiciles are set-up?  Will the inhabitants be as obese as those on earth?  What about the Siberian unicorns that popped up in the news as well?  They may not be as pretty with white hair and golden horns, but hey, a giant rhino-like unicorn with long single boney protrusion from its forehead definitely works too. 

Best wishes to everyone!