Things That Grind My Gears - 2026 Edition

Consider the Universe. To think that we humans on planet Earth are the only living things in the universe is asinine. As a matter-of-fact, Earth humans are probably not even the smartest, most advanced life forms in the universe. Believing that there exists more advanced life forms in the universe is not only reasonable, but more than likely true. One time when he was asked if there was a God or not, Albert Einstein mused that a betting man would go with "there is a God", because the consequences of being wrong otherwise would be far more consequential. He was spot on! Growing up, I was raised Roman Catholic by my mom but also attended Presbyterian bible school during summers spent at my paternal grandparents home. I learned all the classics: stories of angels & archangels; Adam & Eve; Noah & the great flood; the story of Christ - from the immaculate conception on out; you get the idea. And mixed in were fun facts, like who begat who; men who lived to be 900 years old; two of every animal living peacefully on a boat - all the good stuff I might need for my turn on Jeopardy! some day. And I didn't buy one word of any of it. Not. One. Word. I'm too much a left-side-of-brain, scientist. This is not to say that I don't believe in a supreme entity, but all the biblical stories were too fantastic to be anything other than fables for teaching morals. Or are they? I guess I always believed that we were not alone in the universe, and that we were most likely not the most intelligent life form in the universe. There is a series on the History channel called Ancient Aliens, and if you have not seen it yet, I highly recommend it. If nothing else, you will see more of the ancient ruins from throughout the world that you would most likely never otherwise see, and I guarantee (or your money back) that you will be in awe at what you see. The series delves into so many unexplained subjects that it is well worth your time investment to binge watch the entire series, start to finish. That's 22 seasons (270+ episodes) to consume, quite a big gulp to swallow. But you eat the elephant one mouthful at a time, so I suggest as a starting point, you watch S20 E11 Mysteries of the Maya , S20 E17 Egypt's Giant Tombs , S21 E7 Mysteries of the Aztecs , S18 E6 Secrets of the Star Ancestors , and S16 E5 The Forbidden Bible . Then, after watching those 5 episodes, make up your mind as to the commitment to watch the rest. There is so much unexplained about our ancient ancestors, including the architecture of their structures & how they were constructed without advanced technologies, that you will come away wanting to know the answers to some very simple questions. If your religion includes spiritual beings - e.g., angels - then you do believe in aliens as angels are, by definition, not of this world, thus they are extraterrestrial in nature. Civilizations from around the world all include the same themes - that beings arrived from the heavens & that they taught the civilizations agriculture, language, astronomy and other sciences, among other things. Native Americans, Maya, Aztec, Egyptians, Peruvian, Indian, Chinese and other cultures all recorded beings from the heavens arriving in vehicles that the populations were never exposed to and therefore didn't have the language to adequately describe. When you see the records - whether they were petroglyphs, or incorporated into structures such as crypts or pyramids, or even passed down in the oral histories - one thing is clear: the universality of heavenly beings descending in various crafts, providing people with the tools necessary to advance their civilizations, then departing. Where these stories from vivid imaginations, or actual records of events experienced by our ancestors? If you watch Ancient Aliens with an open mind and are willing to consider possibilities other than those you were taught to believe, you will find a growing fascination with our ancient history. Whereas only 30 years ago we were taught that random events created a "primordial soup" from which all life on Earth arose. We were taught that the oldest civilizations dated back 3,000-4,000 years. But recent archeological discoveries the world around have unearth the remnants of civilizations dating back to 10,000 years or more! Recent discoveries have greatly expanded our evolutionary tree, and the human genome project has greatly enlightened our understanding of the relationships among species. Our once myopic view of life and history has been greatly broadened by the combination of advances in science & technology coupled with remarkable discoveries in archeology. The discovery of micro-organisms on the outsides of the International Space Station's windows, the discovery of exoplanets that are in the so-called Goldilocks zones in other galaxies, the radio signals picked up by the SETI project, and re-evaluating the oral and written histories of our ancestors describing visitation by Star Ancestors as historical accounts rather than tall tales - these and so many more events have opened our eyes to the possibility that we are not alone in the universe and that Earth may have been visited by other civilizations in the past and continues to be visited by alien life forms. What the Ancient Astronaut Theory professes is that there has been visitation of planet Earth by non-terrestrial entities for tens of thousands of years (or longer); that non-terrestrial entities have had significant effects on shaping humanity; that their visitations were recorded by ancient civilizations in the forms of oral histories and petroglyphs that are in effect historical records and not merely "cave wall doodlings". Ancient Astronaut Theorists probably believe true more of the stories of the Old Testament than many of today's religious leaders do!

After the November 2024 election, I self-imposed a total news blackout. No TV, no newspapers, no online news outlets. No discussions with family and friends about news, no matter the topic. And folks, I can honestly say that after 8 months, my life couldn't be any better! No stress, no aggravation, no anger at the sheer stupidity of the American people and the hypocrisy of the so-called Christian right. No matter what happens in this country or in the world, the quality of my life remains unaffected. The old adage that "No news is good news" couldn't be any truer! My generation is on the wane. We had our time and now its up to the subsequent generations to make this country and the world what they will. But no matter what they make of it, none of it will have any effect on the quality of my life. I have achieved what I once thought impossible - the nirvana of apathy! I simply do not care what happens outside of my family & friends. I am not a Democrat. I am not a Republican. I am an American, as proud of that label as I am disgusted by either of the political labels. To all those who voted, and especially to all those who didn't vote in the 2024 election , I truly hope you got what you wanted... and deserve. Regardless, the quality of my life remains as high as can be. And should things really go south, Costa Rica is only a flight away!

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