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You are Here
Author: TriSec
Date: 06/17/2023 11:28:29
Good morning. Well, it sure seems like the end times have arrived, if you follow that sort of thing. Most of us can name the classic "plagues" of Biblical prophecy.
Turning water to blood
Frogs
Lice/Gnats
Wild animals/Flies
Pestilence of livestock
Boils
Hail
Locusts
Three days of darkness
Death of Firstborn
"May you live in interesting times" has long been attributed as a Chinese curse, even though it is not. But is it the end times? I'm not sure we can go through chapter and verse of the classic plagues, but there's certainly enough of them going on, aren't there?
Our water may not have turned into blood per se, but it is no less undrinkable than it has been stated in Exodus. The fish in the Nile will die, and the river will stink and the Egyptians will not be able to drink its water. While it was last year, there was a major fish-kill in the Oder river recently. Of course here in America, we seem hell-bent on polluting everything that isn't tied down.
I'll lump the frogs, lice, and animals into a single category, but here the plague is not by frogs, but upon them. When was the last time you saw or heard a frog in the wild? We did that!
While the United States seems unaffected by things like gnats and lice, we have our own scourge. It's probably not too many degrees of separation before you can find somebody that's had an encounter with a bedbug - and that isn't pretty.
We've got wild animals to spare. While again the bible speaks of pestilence among them, I think the larger danger is the beasts rising up in places they shouldn't be. Here in Massachusetts, we had a black bear sighting In Needham (you could look at a map). Here is is, casually checking out the neighbors' ride.
There have also been bears not very far from me in Lexington. Waltham itself has a violent flock of wild turkeys in the Girl Scout camp at Cedar Hill - so much so that warnings about hiking alone have been issued.
The plague of Boils is an easy one - we're still running with that one, although that pestilence mostly affects the lungs. TFG bears sole responsibility for the 1.1 million dead since 2019. Although it's receded, the tipping point is not very far away for a re-emergence.
Thunderstorms, hail, and fire are always a constant presence in the United States. At this time of year, there's a tornado nearly every day in Tornado Alley; five people were killed overnight in the Texas Panhandle by such a storm. A friend of mine in Virginia posted a picture online from Virginia - it was 80 degrees there yesterday, and he had hail that looked like plowed snow. And of course, my beloved Nova Scotia has been burning for weeks.
That smoke contributed to more that three days of darkness in parts of the Eastern United states over the last few weeks. When New York City looks like this, is this not truly the end times?
Ah, and I almost forgot the story that prompted this blog this morning. Out of sequence now, but how about some actual locusts? I hope you don't know anybody in Elkton, NV - since they are probably a little freaked out right now.
But here in America - we can wrap up with the deaths of our firstborn children. Because isn't it always about the guns? The Gun Violence Archive keeps a running list. The most recent shooting was yesterday in Baltimore, but injuries only. The last fatal mass shooting was on June 15 in Tennessee. (five killed). But likely to be updated later today, it's a weekend after all.
It is a somewhat daunting prospect, especially among the more evangelical, or cult-ish among us. But instead of working to correct such things, they only point fingers and place blame. Which does lead me to refer to my favourite "biblical" passage - but it is from a different book.
Turning water to blood
Frogs
Lice/Gnats
Wild animals/Flies
Pestilence of livestock
Boils
Hail
Locusts
Three days of darkness
Death of Firstborn
"May you live in interesting times" has long been attributed as a Chinese curse, even though it is not. But is it the end times? I'm not sure we can go through chapter and verse of the classic plagues, but there's certainly enough of them going on, aren't there?
Our water may not have turned into blood per se, but it is no less undrinkable than it has been stated in Exodus. The fish in the Nile will die, and the river will stink and the Egyptians will not be able to drink its water. While it was last year, there was a major fish-kill in the Oder river recently. Of course here in America, we seem hell-bent on polluting everything that isn't tied down.
I'll lump the frogs, lice, and animals into a single category, but here the plague is not by frogs, but upon them. When was the last time you saw or heard a frog in the wild? We did that!
What is alarming is that there are many cases where the habitat is protected and amphibians are still disappearing. The causes for recent amphibian declines are many, but an emerging disease called chytridiomycosis and global climate change are thought the be the biggest threats to amphibians. Chytridiomycosis is a disease caused by the fungal chytrid pathogen Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis. This pathogen is associated with the global loss of hundreds of species of amphibians and represents a spectacular loss of biodiversity, some say the worst in recorded history.
While the United States seems unaffected by things like gnats and lice, we have our own scourge. It's probably not too many degrees of separation before you can find somebody that's had an encounter with a bedbug - and that isn't pretty.
We've got wild animals to spare. While again the bible speaks of pestilence among them, I think the larger danger is the beasts rising up in places they shouldn't be. Here in Massachusetts, we had a black bear sighting In Needham (you could look at a map). Here is is, casually checking out the neighbors' ride.
There have also been bears not very far from me in Lexington. Waltham itself has a violent flock of wild turkeys in the Girl Scout camp at Cedar Hill - so much so that warnings about hiking alone have been issued.
The plague of Boils is an easy one - we're still running with that one, although that pestilence mostly affects the lungs. TFG bears sole responsibility for the 1.1 million dead since 2019. Although it's receded, the tipping point is not very far away for a re-emergence.
Thunderstorms, hail, and fire are always a constant presence in the United States. At this time of year, there's a tornado nearly every day in Tornado Alley; five people were killed overnight in the Texas Panhandle by such a storm. A friend of mine in Virginia posted a picture online from Virginia - it was 80 degrees there yesterday, and he had hail that looked like plowed snow. And of course, my beloved Nova Scotia has been burning for weeks.
That smoke contributed to more that three days of darkness in parts of the Eastern United states over the last few weeks. When New York City looks like this, is this not truly the end times?
Ah, and I almost forgot the story that prompted this blog this morning. Out of sequence now, but how about some actual locusts? I hope you don't know anybody in Elkton, NV - since they are probably a little freaked out right now.
Millions of flightless insects known as Mormon crickets have descended across Nevada, alarming residents, blanketing roadways and buildings, and fueling nightmares.
Footage shared on social media and by local news outlets captures six Nevada counties under siege, with thick carpets of bugs moving slowly and efficiently across the state. A local hospital had to deploy brooms and leafblowers to clear the way for patients to get into the building, a spokesperson for the Northeastern Nevada Regional Hospital, told local news outlet KSL.
Not only do the bugs make for terrifying plague-like images and videos, they make roadways dangerous when large numbers of them get crushed.
“They get run over, two or three come out and eat their buddy, and they get run over, and the roads can get covered with crickets and they can get slick,” Jeff Knight, an entomologist for the Nevada agriculture department, also told KSL. “The bigger issue is these afternoon thunderstorms and put a little water on that and it gets slick, we’ve had a number of accidents caused by crickets.”
But here in America - we can wrap up with the deaths of our firstborn children. Because isn't it always about the guns? The Gun Violence Archive keeps a running list. The most recent shooting was yesterday in Baltimore, but injuries only. The last fatal mass shooting was on June 15 in Tennessee. (five killed). But likely to be updated later today, it's a weekend after all.
It is a somewhat daunting prospect, especially among the more evangelical, or cult-ish among us. But instead of working to correct such things, they only point fingers and place blame. Which does lead me to refer to my favourite "biblical" passage - but it is from a different book.
In the name of God, the Gracious, the Merciful.
1. When the hypocrites come to you, they say, “We bear witness that you are God’s Messenger.” God knows that you are His Messenger, and God bears witness that the hypocrites are liars.
2. They treat their oaths as a cover, and so they repel others from God’s path. Evil is what they do.
3. That is because they believed, and then disbelieved; so their hearts were sealed, and they cannot understand.
4. When you see them, their appearance impresses you. And when they speak, you listen to what they say. They are like propped-up timber. They think every shout is aimed at them. They are the enemy, so beware of them. God condemns them; how deluded they are!
5. And when it is said to them, “Come, the Messenger of God will ask forgiveness for you,” they bend their heads, and you see them turning away arrogantly.
6. It is the same for them, whether you ask forgiveness for them, or do not ask forgiveness for them; God will not forgive them. God does not guide the sinful people.
7. It is they who say: “Do not spend anything on those who side with God’s Messenger, unless they have dispersed.” To God belong the treasures of the heavens and the earth, but the hypocrites do not understand.
8. They say, “If we return to the City, the more powerful therein will evict the weak.” But power belongs to God, and His Messenger, and the believers; but the hypocrites do not know.
9. O you who believe! Let neither your possessions nor your children distract you from the remembrance of God. Whoever does that—these are the losers.
10. And give from what We have provided for you, before death approaches one of you, and he says, “My Lord, if only You would delay me for a short while, so that I may be charitable, and be one of the righteous.”
11. But God will not delay a soul when its time has come. God is Informed of what you do.
