Missive #65

God is not dead, he has merely been exiled to an extraterrestrial planet. And it is on this planet that God meets Herb Asher and convinces him to help retake Earth from the demonic Belial. As I said when posting about VALIS; ‘I was seriously considering NOT reading the other two books in the series until I read this review’. I’m glad that I gave this second book in the series a chance. It is very strange SiFi but better than the first book. I’ll read the third book in the series and then move on to what is considered Dick’s better works. Featuring virtual reality, parallel worlds, and interstellar travel, The Divine Invasion blends philosophy and adventure in a way few authors can achieve. As the middle novel of Dick’s VALIS trilogy, The Divine Invasion plays a pivotal role in answering the questions raised by the first novel, expanding that world while exploring just how much anyone can really know—even God himself. Book promo @ Amazon

A large part of the MiG-29 fighter jets that Poland and Slovakia recently handed over to Ukraine are not in flyable condition and can be of use only if disassembled for spare parts, a British weekly newspaper reported on Sunday. The report noted that Poland and Slovakia had transferred about eight MiG-29s in recent weeks.

“Most human organizations that fall short of their goals do so not because of stupidity or faulty doctrines, but because of internal decay and rigidification. They grow stiff in the joints. They get in a rut. They go to seed.” — James A. Garfield

“One thing is certain.  Carlson’s dismissal, the Democrats’ attempt to imprison Matt Taibbi for reporting on the Twitter files released by Elon Musk, the imprisonment of Trump supporters for attending a rally, and Trump’s phony indictment sends a strong and intimidating message that freedom of speech and association are dead letter Constitutional rights.  America has changed. As truth is not permitted, it can no longer make us free.” — Paul Craig Roberts

I’m even later than usual with this posting today. Spent almost two hours in Sierra Vista at Verizon getting a new MIFI. The old one was a 8800L which got high reviews but the charging input connection was no longer connecting so not charging. In our Dumpster Economy that meant that I had to get a replacement. The new one is a RC400L which I finally got to work after four trips back and forth from Desperado to the Verizon store. Partly my fault and partly the sales rep at Verizon’s. Why is everything electronic so damn complicated?