Author: Tim Constant

The events that make up the bruta facta of the past do not contain in themselves the type of narrative order and explanations of causality that is essential in a work of history. That is, historical events do not come with tags explaining how they relate to other historicalevents. No, it is the task of … Continue reading Running Thoughts #33 →

"If chance be the father of all flesh, disaster is his rainbow in the sky. And when you hear a state of emergency - sniper kills 10, troops on rampage, youths go looting, bomb blasts school - it's but the sound of man worshipping his maker" - Steve Turner

Over Christmas, my family read the story of Christ's birth from the book of Luke. We tend to hop back and forth between Luke and Matthew, each account having their own peculiar viewpoint of the nativity tale. Each also has that tedious but necessary genealogical portion that tracks Jesus's ancestry through his earthly father Joseph … Continue reading Genealogical Snobbery →

Nicolas of Myra, a 4th-century Greek bishop, was a very generous man, known for tossing coins to children, miraculous healings, and even saving a man's three daughters from a life of destitution by surreptitiously tossing a sack full of money through their window to pay for their dowries. Later, after he was sainted, St. Nicolas … Continue reading Spirit of Christmas →

To combat socialism [Otto van] Bismarck put through between 1883 and 1889 a program for social security far beyond anything known in other countries. It included compulsory insurance for workers against old age, sickness, accident and incapacity, and though organized by the State it was financed by employers and employees. It cannot be said that … Continue reading Running Thoughts #31 →

All that meets the bodily sense I deemSymbolical, one mighty alphabetTo infant minds; and we in this low worldPlaced with our backs to bright reality,That we might learn with young unwounded kenThe substance from the shadow. -Samuel Coleridge Introduction As a fair warning, this post is abstract. Actually, it is about as abstract as anything … Continue reading All Things Symbolic →

Hitler’s father, Alois, was a bastard and therefore took his mother’s last name. If not for Alois’ father claiming him as his legitimate son, at the decrepit age of 84, Adolf would likely have inherited his paternal grandmother’s maiden name, Schicklgruber. Is it conceivable that the Third Reich could have risen from the ashes of … Continue reading Running Thoughts #30 →

Transhumanism is the belief that humans will push beyond the boundaries of mortality and the confines of nature by merging with technology. The only thing new about this is the use of technology to achieve this goal. Humanity's last attempt at transhumanism was at the Tower of Babel. Instead of spreading throughout the earth to … Continue reading Running Thoughts #29 →