Antivenom: Live and Let Die

(Public Domain)

The story of Adam, Eve and the Serpent is quite well-known, even among non-believers.  Many would agree that serpents can be life-threatening, although some would distinguish between physical and eternal life.

If eternal life is your goal, it could be best to ignore the temptations that a serpentine figure might offer. If physical life is your perceived end game, it still might be wise to proceed cautiously through slithery terrain. In either case, advance preparation is key.

An effective “antivenom” for slippery slopes can be devotion to a Truth that could ultimately yield freedom from all vicious cycles.  Or, you could instead spend precious days, months and years encouraging snakes to bite your temporal flesh.

The latter is what a fellow named Tim Friede is all too familiar with.  After becoming comatose from self-induced poisoning, Friede later declared, “I know what it feels like to die from snakebite.”  He went on to repeatedly defy the adage “Once bitten, twice shy.”  After more and more bites, Friede was finally ready to abandon the Serpent.  And yet, he then wistfully uttered, “I do miss it.”  An all-too-common feeling we humans tend to have while loosening the grip of toxic habits...

Resources

https://news.yahoo.com/news/man-let-snakes-bite-him-025559322.html 

Earning Its Stripes

Andes Mountains
(Photo by Jorge Morales Piderit)

Far from being yellow-bellied, the yellow-striped Alsodes vittatus frog has emerged victorious after 130 years of virtual extinction.

This stalwart species has managed to survive within Chile’s frigid mountain streams by wedging between rocks and surfacing only at night. 

Its adaptability offers possibilities for the long-term survival of other endangered groups - perhaps including hope for humanity itself. 

Resources

https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/news/rare-creature-found-after-130-years-in-the-chilean-mountains/ss-AA1ECqy6

Hens for Hire

Commercial Chicken House
(USDA Photo)

Why buy eggs when you can simply rent hens?   Although hosting hens is certainly no cheaper than plucking eggs from a market bin, it can be more educational, and even more nutritious.

Kids who know nothing about eggs outside of Humpty Dumpty might be tickled to learn  that omelettes originate from the same orifice as chicken droppings.  They might also be strengthened from eating fresh eggs rather than by waiting a month or two for the oldies to arrive from farm to grocery.

If you’re wondering how to care for hired hens and your wallet is bulging with Los Angeles wealth, there’s a solution at hand.  Just call upon “Rent a Chicken,” and your yard may soon be transformed into Hen Central, “predator-proof coop” and all.

Resources

https://news.yahoo.com/news/lifestyle/backyard-barnyard-rising-egg-prices-015348903.html

 

Food for Thought

Diocese of Chiclayo
(Photo by Frank Coronel Mendoza) 

We all eat to live (and then some), celebrities included.  The difference is that our daily bread does not appear as breaking news, whereas the pope’s sometimes does.

When waiters in the Peruvian city of Chiclayo were recently asked what then-Bishop Robert Prevost used to order, their tongues went a wagging.  One recalled that, back around 2015, the menu read as follows: Breakfast consisted of “fried chicken or pork belly… washed down with orange juice and coffee.”  Lunch “was sometimes stewed goat; dinner was chicken broth.”

Prices weren’t divulged, yet one server couldn’t help but add: “He didn’t tip you, that’s for sure, but he gave you his blessing.” 

Resources

https://news.yahoo.com/news/blessings-not-tips-pope-leo-210016026.html

Drunk without Drink

(Photo by Bernard Spragg)

According to many religions, life as we perceive it can be quite illusory. 

Case in point: Those who appear to be drunk may not have imbibed a single drop of alcohol.  They may instead suffer from a rare condition known as auto-brewery in which the body converts carbohydrates into ethanol.

This can occur when “microorganisms capable of fermenting alcohol outgrow normal gut flora.”  Probiotics plus a low-carb diet have been effective for restoring gut health.

Sometimes a rose is a rose is a rose, but sometimes it’s a horse of a different color.  Investigating before assuming can avoid mistaking manure for perfume.

Resources

https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/doctors-repeatedly-told-this-toronto-woman-she-was-drunk--but-she-never-had-a-sip-of-alcohol-what-is-auto-brewery-syndrome-194746438.html

Mitochondrial Eve

Eve in Paradise
(1305 Armenian Icon)

It’s interesting to note that science has become so much more believable than religion.

Case in point: Eve.  When the Bible speaks of all humans descending from one woman named Eve, many respond with cynicism.  Yet when scientists speak of all humans descending from one woman “who lived 200,000 years ago in Botswana,” many respond with assent.

These scientific findings stem from mitochondrial research, which is why this “Mother of all Folks” came to be known as “Mitochondrial Eve.”   At least the name stuck, even if the belief didn’t… 

Resources

https://en.as.com/latest_news/scientists-discover-that-all-humans-come-from-the-same-mother-who-lived-200000-years-ago-in-botswana-n/

Salt of the Interview

Salty Stone at Dead Sea
(Photo by xta11)

During biblical times, salt was a treasured item.  When Jesus called his followers “salt of the earth,” he was highlighting two essential qualities: flavoring and preservation.  The disciples were expected to enhance society in the way that salt enhances meals and were expected to preserve morality in the way that salt preserves food.

These days, business leaders have been utilizing salt to separate the sheep from the goats.  During lunch interviews, potential hires may be sneakily subjected to a “salt test.”  They are closely watched to see whether they salt their food before tasting it.  If they dare to commit such an offense, their chances of joining the company are immediately reduced to zero.  Why?  It is believed that those who hastily salt their food before analyzing the need for this may do the same with weighty on-the-job decisions.

Although minor choices sometimes do foreshadow major problems, a hasty hiring decision based upon one such narrow point seems already tainted.

Resources

https://www.ladbible.com/community/boss-salt-pepper-job-interview-trick-906471-20240509

https://www.gotquestions.org/salt-and-light.html#:~:text=Jesus%20used%20the%20concepts%20of%20salt%20and,role%20of%20His%20followers%20in%20the%20world.&text=In%20the%20same%20way%20that%20salt%20enhances,the%20flavor%20of%20life%20in%20this%20world. 

RFK Jr.: Compliance to Belief

RFK Jr. in 2000
(Photo by John Mathew Smith) 

Let’s face it: The outcome of compliance very much depends upon who’s complying with what, and why. 

When RFK Jr. sought to align his everyday choices with higher-ground morality, formerly addictive trends transformed into uplifting ones.  Inspired by Carl Jung’s book Synchronicity, RFK Jr. began to carefully revise the daily decisions that were subtly feeding his heroin habit.  One such change: Rather than dwelling upon depressing thoughts while lying around in bed each morning, he instead chose to quickly switch gears upon awakening. 

At first it was a matter of repeatedly “acting as if,” but after a while his better-angel choices gathered a momentum of their own.  This momentum began to include synchronicities, which Jung defined as “chance occurrences from a statistical point of view, but meaningful in that they may seem to validate paranormal ideas…”

"Acting as if" type compliance with wholesome options can therefore morph into a series of virtuous habits, which can eventually lead to faithful belief. 

Resources

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJB1Ym2APbk

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synchronicity_(book)

 

 

 

In the Garden

Church of the Holy Sepulchre
(Photo by Gerd Eichmann)

Many can recall Mary Magdelene’s encounter with “the gardener” standing outside Jesus’ tomb.  A recent archaeological discovery lends credence to this well-known story.

An Independent headline reads, “Discovery of ancient garden beneath Jesus’ burial site backs up Biblical account.”  This discovery includes “2,000 year-old olive trees and grapevines… under the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.”

John 19:41 clearly states, “Now there was a garden in the place where he was crucified, and in the garden there was a new tomb...”  Scholars have associated this garden with the original Garden of Eden, likening it to the rebirth of Creation.

Pastor Brian Zahnd explains that Jesus is a “gardener cultivating resurrection life in all who will come to him…  Gardeners have their hands in the humus.  (We are humans from the humus.)”

Resources

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/archaeology/ancient-garden-jesus-burial-site-bible-b2727975.html

https://brianzahnd.com/2018/03/mistaken-as-the-gardener/

It's still Easter!

Easter Lily
(Public Domain)

Although many have moved on to merry thoughts of May, it’s actually still Eastertide.  It will remain so until Pentecost Sunday (aka Whit Sunday, Whitsunday or Whitsun), which isn’t until 49 days past Resurrection Sunday (or 39 days past within Eastern Christianity).

Easter is not confined to a particular day, no matter how joyous.  It instead encompasses an entire season during which the joy heightens and deepens. 

In the weeks before the risen Christ ascended into Heaven, numerous encounters occurred on earth.  Acts 1:3 states: “After his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive.  He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God.”

This therefore is a sacred time in which to seek confirmation of Eternal Life.  For it is Jesus Himself who declared: “Seek and you will find.”

 Resources

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastertide

Unleavened

Matzoh on Seder Plate
(Photo by Claude Truong-Ngoc)

Sooner or later, supermarket shoppers come across the Passover staple known as matzah.  Although some may savor its crunchy bite, most favor its religious significance. 

Often described as “unleavened flatbread,” and sometimes as “the bread of affliction,” matzah has long been associated with the Israelites’ flight from Egyptian slavery.  Exodus 12:18 states: “From the evening of the 14th day of the first month until the evening of the 21^st day, you are to eat matzah.”  Deuteronomy 16:3 adds: “Thus you will remember the day you left the land of Egypt as long as you live.”

How so?  Simply put: When on the run, it’s not only difficult to wait for dough to rise, but also impossible to keep it from spoiling beneath the harsh desert sun. Symbolically, this “poor man’s bread” also reminds the faithful to remain humble.

 Resources

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matzah    

Feeling lucky?

Seven Lucky Gods
(Painting by Hokusai et al.)

Sometimes you just know…

Shortly before scoring bigtime with the North Carolina Education Lottery, Terry McCall was feeling like a winner.  He even assured his son that a “major windfall" was on its way.

Soon after that, McCall purchased a scratch-off ticket from a grocery store along his usual route.  It turned out to be worth $100,000 before taxes.

Back in December, McCall had won another $2,000.  Just  random luck… or perhaps really good karma?

Resources

https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2025/03/10/lotto-north-carolina-education-lottery-predicted win/7931741636521/

Huge Progress

6th-Century Ganesha 
(Photo by Ms Sarah Welch)  

Worshippers in certain parts of India have been thinking BIG for centuries.  Yet now it’s time for even broader ideas, such as replacing live ceremonial elephants with robotic ones.

Elephants are social intelligent beings that do not relish being traumatically imprisoned by well-meaning devotees.  When involuntarily “paraded through packed crowds with flashing lights, thumping drums and ear-splitting music,” some “panicked pachyderms” have been known to kill people.

Encouraged and somewhat funded by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), artisans have begun making elephant robots with eyes that roll, heads that nod, and tails that swish.  Each costs approximately $5,500. These are slowly becoming acceptable within Hindu rituals.

Because compassionate and non-violent ahimsa is such a core element of Hinduism, it seems only natural to thus ensure the well-being of devotees and their elephant companions.

Resources

https://news.yahoo.com/news/model-behaviour-indias-anti-cruelty-030951067.html

Leave it to Beavers

(Photo by Steve)

“Busy as a beaver” just doesn’t cut it with most people, who view these creatures as worth their weight in pelts rather than engineering.

Yet environmentalists have long heralded beavers “for their ability to protect against flooding, improve water quality and boost wildlife.”  Czech officials south of Prague were recently treated to a stellar example of all this. 

While bureaucrats hemmed and hawed over a “long-stalled dam” project, beavers got right to work.  Pretty soon the Klabava River was shielded from toxic flooding, a glorious wetland was created, and a proposed 1.2 million-dollar cost was averted.

Resources

https://news.yahoo.com/news/dam-fine-beavers-save-czech-180852747.html 

Garbage In, Garbage Out

Nara Park'
(Photo by Feri88)

It seems that Japan’s “leave no trace” norm has not caught on with the rest of the world. 

International tourists are leaving trails of trash behind.  This has been especially lethal at Nara Park, a Shinto site in which hundreds of deer roam freely.  “Tourists are only allowed to feed the deer special rice crackers,” but are littering the park with plastics. When plastics reach critical mass within a deer’s stomach, they can and do kill.

Public trash bins had been easily invaded by hungry animals, so other solutions were needed.  Nara officials recently set up solar-powered compactors with signage reading “Save the Nara deer from plastic waste.”  A volunteer clean-up squad also patrols the park.  All this will hopefully encourage visitors to clean up their act.

Resources

https://news.yahoo.com/news/squad-saving-deer-tourist-trash-021047201.html

In All the Wrong Places

(Fair Use)

Some look for love in strip clubs, others in brothels.  “Pretty Woman” aside, looking for love in all the wrong places seems rampant these days.

Meta put out a recent warning that Facebook friends might not be all that friendly.  In fact, they might not be all that human.  AI is being used more and more to scam Eleanor Rigby and her lonely doppelgangers into thinking they are cherished.

Thanks to freely available GenAI tools, scammers can now “change their faces and voices on video calls as they pretend to be someone they are not.”  Although we all project situational identities at times, AI brings such games people play to a whole new level.

Folks are therefore urged to be “politely paranoid” when dealing with online anonymity.  After all, delusion is often based upon illusion.

Resources

https://news.yahoo.com/news/scammers-using-ai-dupe-lonely-150733271.html 

To Marry and to Earn

(Public Domain)

Some local Chinese authorities have come up with a new twist on the First Corinthians warning, “It’s better to marry than to burn.”

Due to declining marriage rates, many places are now offering cash incentives for citizens to tie the proverbial knot.  In Luliang, a total of 1,500 yuans (the equivalent of a rural monthly wage) is being offered to those who would pledge their precious lives to one another. 

If babies follow, so do payouts.  The first such child would yield the besotted couple another 2,000 yuan, the second 5,000, and the third 8,000.  Never mind that raising kids costs far more than that.

And yet, humans often think short-term over long-term.  Those who live paycheck to paycheck are especially vulnerable to dangling bait.  Since New Year’s Day, hundreds of Luliang couples have grabbed the gold rings.

Women over 35 are not among the chosen ones.  They must either marry on their own terms, or perhaps burn with the righteous anger that accompanies injustice.

Resources

https://news.yahoo.com/news/chinese-authorities-play-cash-giving-021307335.html

Just when you think you've got it down pat

Hey there!
(Photo by Bigmacthealmanac)

We tend to think that we know our parents, our kids, our spouses - to name a few.  Heck, we often think that we know ourselves.  The truth is, we haven’t even figured out what squirrels do behind our backs.

Never mind that these furry rodents are practically ubiquitous.  Just because we see them chomping away on bounty from the nearest tree doesn’t mean that there’s no rest-of-the-story.  Turns out that some of these innocent-looking creatures are munching on voles. 

Just as big fish eat little fish, bigger rodents eat smaller rodents.  Sometimes it’s a dog-eat-dog world, literally as well as figuratively.

Resources

https://news.yahoo.com/news/researchers-stunned-shocking-behavior-ground-110034099.html 

 

Panda trumps Pander

Give peace a chance!
(Public Domain)

Washington, D.C. has long been known for pandering to those who see things as either black or white.  It’s time for a change, and the symbol of such change has recently arrived.

China has loaned two giant pandas named Bao Li and Qing Bao to the Washington Zoo for the next ten years.  These “soft-power” furry “ambassadors” not only represent diplomacy between the two nations, but also personify the both/and possibilities of black-and-white mergers.

Many are wishing for these ambassadors to be fruitful and multiply.  Baby pandas would be wonderful, as would peace between the nations that nurture them.

Resources

https://news.yahoo.com/news/pandas-trump-back-washington-171512377.html

Testing the God Hypothesis

Dr. Stephen Meyer
(Public Domain)

Although belief in God has fallen out of favor within certain circles, Dr. Stephen Meyer is harkening back to the hypothesis that an intelligent Creator indeed exists.

During an 2021 Hoover Institution interview, Meyer declared, “We can judge the merits of a metaphysical hypothesis of a worldview by looking at the world around us, to see if it matches the expectations, what we think should follow if that hypothesis were true.”

Meyer has dedicated a huge chunk of his life to checking the God Hypothesis against the world around us.  After noting the profound intricacy of even a single human cell, he concludes that Richard Dawkins’ theory of a “blind pitiless” and fundamentally indifferent Universe seems out of kilter.

Meyer points out that the Big Bang had a beginning point, commonly called the Singularity.  He wonders what came before that... Did the Universe just suddenly and randomly arise out of sheer nothingness?

Meyer finds that to be highly unlikely, and questions the notion of nothingness itself.  He also notes that Darwin had no solid explanation for the origin of life, and no solid explanation for the complex evolutionary leaps that go far beyond mere adaptations and variations.  Meyer claims that intelligent design seems a much better theoretical match for such observations than does natural selection.

Resources

https://www.hoover.org/research/stephen-meyer-intelligent-design-and-return-god-hypothesis

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISUynYz93zY

A penny saved is a penny burned

Public Domain

 

It’s kind of fitting that Lincoln is portrayed on the humble penny because he was kind of a humble president.  Today’s leaders do not seem to favor humility, and the penny might soon be extinct.

Thus speaketh Elon Musk, who claims that it costs three cents to produce every one-cent coin.  Translated into DOGEse, doing away with pennies could mean a governmental savings of almost $200 million per year.  

What then would happen with a purchase of, say, $4.51?  Theoretically, the shopkeeper would round it down to $4.50.  However, we’re talking human nature here.  Rounding up to the nearest nickel could easily become the norm.  In that case, consumers would likely be paying for the governmental savings.

It was Ben Franklin who originally claimed that a penny saved is a penny earned.  His monetary portrayal will likely last way longer than Lincoln’s since $100 bills are still coveted by the powers that be.

Resources

https://www.barrons.com/articles/eliminate-penny-elon-musk-doge-462b003b

 

One and Done?

(Fair Use)

Although cats are said to have nine lives, cat women may only have one.  It might therefore behoove them to utilize that singular gift wisely by focusing upon inner beauty.

That doesn’t seem to be what Jocelyne Wildenstein prioritized.  Also known as “Catwoman” due to the feline-looking results of her multiple cosmetic surgeries, Wildenstein recently died on New Year's Eve.  She had been napping in anticipation of dinner out on the Parisian town, then never woke up.

At age 79 and counting, her death was deemed “unexpected.”  Perhaps if death had been a bit more expected - or even anticipated - a profound inner life may have prevailed.

Resources

https://news.yahoo.com/news/entertainment/cosmetic-surgery-aficionado-jocelyne-wildenstein-190942270.html

 

Oh, HENRY!

Don't bite off more than you can chew...
(Public Domain)

As long as we’ve come up with stereotypical  Karens, we might as well add some HENRYs to the mix.

Whereas “Karen” is a caricature, HENRY is actually an acronym for “High Earners, Not Rich Yet.”  Although their annual salaries generally range from $250,000 to $500,000, this does not translate into substantial savings.

Considered to be “asset-poor,” HENRYs are often overwhelmed by locked-in debts and taxes.  Their keeping-up-with-the-Joneses lifestyle is by no means cheap.

So what’s a HENRY to do?  Can a simpler path be followed?  Perhaps not easily and perhaps not immediately, yet some movement toward economic and egoic downsizing might greatly help.

Resources

https://news.yahoo.com/news/finance/news/6-figure-salary-still-don-190220885.html

Dogged Resistance

Portraits of
Deceased Chernobyl Liquidators
(Photo by MHM55) 

There’s something to be said for dogged resilience, especially when coupled with dogged resistance to radioactivity.

Stray dogs have continued to inhabit the Chernobyl “radioactive wasteland” ever since the 1986 disaster.  Generations of them have passed, yet they continue to thrive. 

Scientific research has indicated that these canines have somehow developed a genetic resistance to toxic radiation.  And they are not the only ones…  “Mutant wolves” within that same locale “were reported to have developed cancer resistance,” and neighboring frogs had developed protective “darker skin.”

This could bode well for the chances of human survival under such deadly conditions.  Yet why tempt nuclear proliferation with this seemingly positive prediction?

Resources

https://www.ynetnews.com/health_science/article/bya8vodvyl

 

Brown Snow

Look out, Frosty!
(Fair Use)

You don’t want to be playing around in yellow snow, and brown snow sounds worse yet.

The latter recently plagued folks living in Rumford, Maine.  As the nearby mill began spewing black liquor, “a byproduct of paper production,” the snow began turning tannish-brown. 

Although town officials claimed this byproduct to be “non-toxic,” they also warned about “skin irritation,” “touching the snow,” plus keeping “children and pets away from it.”  So why the concern if all is merry and bright?

Not to worry…  Subsequent rains will likely wash the stuff down river.  One region’s relief will then be another region’s concern.

Resources

https://www.iheart.com/content/2024-12-11-residents-outraged-after-town-covered-in-brown-snow/?mid=1399727&rid=98364581&sc=email&pname=newsletter&cid=NATIONAL&keyid=National%20iHeart%20Daily%20NewsTalk&campid=headline5_readmore