Buncombe Turnpike

The Buncombe Turnpike, the big commercial enterprise of antebellum Western North Carolina, arrives at a resort in Hickory Nut Gap, as depicted in the mural at the McClure-Ager home in Fairview.

Source: Asheville Citizen Times (Asheville, NC), 12 October 2020.

Automobile Racing Can Be Confusing

Automobile Racing Can Be Confusing

Who races? Where do they race? Who are the drivers? What are the cars? Who are the sanctioning bodies? From where comes the money to finance the teams?

Below is a very rough draft primer on racing.

There are many race series sanctioned by various bodies. Most race fans will be familiar with the "big six" --

1. Formula One (includes Monaco)

2. FIA World Endurance Championship (includes the 24 Hours of Le Mans)

3. Indy Car (includes the Indianapolis 500)

4. IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship (includes Rolex 24 at Daytona)

5. Sports Car Club of America (SCCA)

6. NASCAR (includes the Daytona 500)

_______________ 

Religion

In the past, I have deferred to someone's faith when it is described as a belief in something that cannot be proved. That was a mistake. And, of course, to claim that I "know" would place me in the same presumptuous position of many of the religious people with whom I disagree.

However, I find inherently suspect a belief in something that cannot be rationally supported.

If a person who believes, for example, in the god of the Christian Bible does so based upon faith (belief in something that cannot be rationally supported), I have trouble not placing that person in one of three categories (which categories are not necessarily mutually exclusive):

1. Stupid (low IQ);

2. Ignorant (uneducated); or

3. Crazy (delusional).

While these categories may seem a bit coarse (and pardon the crude vernacular labels), my experience (be it necessarily anecdotal) provides some support. Of course, these categories reveal my own prejudices, and might be used by the religious in an attempt to explain atheism (used in the classical sense).

Thus, I am revisiting my usual position that I "respect" a person who professes faith as the cornerstone of the person's religion. It is just not enough for me. I am setting up the following to guide my further thought: "Why should I respect a person's belief in something that cannot be rationally supported?"

Perhaps my use of "respect" over the years has been the wrong word. Perhaps "acknowledge" would be more appropriate. While not at the end of this inquiry, at this juncture, I do not "respect" a person who relies upon faith as the basis of the person's religion. I "acknowledge" that the person has chosen to abandon reason, but I cannot "respect" that abandonment. While this word quibbling may be wasted time, I think not, at least not for me.

As noted above, more analysis and thought are required on this subject.

Apocalypse

Apocalypse

1. We now are living in the church age and moving toward the Rapture, toward the End Times.

2. Jesus has given us our talents and instructed us to occupy until he comes. We then will be judged on how wisely we used our talents. Because Jesus is returning soon, we better not waste our talents.

3. Jesus will Rapture all true believers out of this world. They will just just disappear, ascend to Heaven with Jesus.

4. With the loss of Christian influence in the world, Satan will have free rein to take power through a political leader, called the Antichrist, who then will rule over the world for seven years. This period is called the Tribulation.

5. Antichrist rule will lead to a series of wars, which will culminate with Jesus returning (second coming) with an army of saints to fight the battle of Armageddon, in the literal land of Palestine.

6. Jesus will defeat the Antichrist, vanquish evil, and establish a new kingdom that will last one-thousand years.

7. Then comes the Final Judgment.

The Three Brothers Myth

The Three Brothers Myth

The family story often is of three brothers who immigrated to America, rarely two or four or five or six. Sometimes one is lost at sea during the voyage over, or one went north, one went south, and one headed west, never to be heard from again. There are rarely any sisters involved in the big move across the ocean.

Be wary of the three brothers myth. Confirm through your research that there were, in fact, three brothers, that the three brothers were indeed brothers and not two brothers and an uncle, for example, or that the three brothers were not just three men with the same last name.

Obama Hatred

Obama Hatred

I find it difficult to have a rational discussion with many (most) who dislike President Obama. Either as a result of Fox News or their innate inability to think rationally (or both), they continue to throw up the same stuff. Here is a sampling. I omit the really stupid stuff (birth certificate; vacation days/golfing; travel expenses; actually a Muslim; does not love America; etc.).

Obamacare is a failure and is ruining the United States.

President Obama has no foreign policy achievements, none.

Employment remains high because President Obama changed the method used to determine the unemployment rate.

And, of course, Benghazi.

Iran: Nuclear Weapons Negotiations

Is no deal really better than a bad deal?

This is what Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his US Republican sycophants are preaching? What happens if no deal is reached?

Without an agreement, Iran will be free to continue developing nuclear weapons. Sanctions may be extended and even strengthened. However, most international sanctions are porous. And, do not discount that Iran already has taken into consideration the possibility of increased sanctions.

Currently, the so-called P5+1 are negotiating with Iran. This includes Germany and the permanent members of the U.N. Security Council: United States, Russia, China, France, and United Kingdom.
If the negotiations break down, what is the likelihood of reassembling this coalition? Will China and Russia come back to the table? Russia sold to Iran much of the nuclear equipment now being used. Would Putin use Iran as a pawn in his apparent desire to expand Russia's sphere of influence?

Both Israel and the United States have stated that Iran will not be allowed to develop a nuclear weapon. Thus, if no agreement is reached, what will happen? The answer is not pleasant, at least not to some. Without an agreement, the remaining option is force -- using military might to thwart Iran's nuclear ambitions. But will it work? And at what price?