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