Author: J.C. Cross

Excerpts p.1

Excerpt 1 from Ascension Ceres:

Two hours later, E and Perry saw the TGS headquarters building. Once a gleaming glass and electrically-lit edifice, it had now been shattered by projectile weapons and sparked electricity. The bus stopped and E helped Perry get out and sat her down on the stairs to the main door. He saw people scurrying out carrying cardboard boxes full of possessions.
“I’ll try to be fast.”
E entered the building and found a console kiosk and logged in. He accessed the personnel system, but there was too much to go through. How could he get W’s real name? Useless. Then he remembered Perry mentioning her family. He perused the records for Puncher and found an address. He saved it, but what next?
E ran to the wood and gold building directory and skimmed down the list until he saw “7A-7X.” Hmm. He stopped a security guard as he was leaving.
“Is the seventh floor still occupied?”
“Sorry, no information there,” said the guard, “but you should get out of here ASAP.”
Seeing the elevators were not safe, E took the stairs up. He found himself in a hallway of frosted glass and silver-handled door knobs. Let’s see, A, B, C and he jogged down to W. Finding the door locked, he tried to break in with the butt of his EM gun, but couldn’t. Just then the door opened.
Track 6922 opened the door and E could see a couple of other people clearing out shelves and cupboards.
“A massive cyberattack shut down TGS three days ago,” said 6922. “All management has left. Which model are you looking for?”
“Where is W?”
“She’s at these coordinates,” he said while handing him a mini-crystal. “Be careful out there, and—just know that she won’t know who you are. And you may not like what you find.”

***
E opened the hatch from the selftaxi and a light drizzle hit him. He looked up at the sun covered in red mist.
“Wait here,” he said to Perry. She nodded.
E squished through the mud until he got on the stone path. Around him there was only five feet of visibility in the fog.
He walked until he saw a small, lone, glass-domed building in front of him, right where Track said it would be.
He knocked. She opened the door and looked up at him. She was wearing a yellow parka and her green eyes were under black hair.
“You’re real.”
She nodded.
“Do you remember me?”
“One of my favorites,” she said with her natural-sounding voice.
“What does it all mean?”
“I’m just a stand-in. What are you looking for?”
E shook his head.
There was supposed to be companionship in Eden. This was a farce.
“You’re just an employee. You’re complicit.”
“Look, I didn’t mean any harm to you.”
“No one means harm in the virtual world.”
E turned and jogged back to the taxi.
“Wait,” cried W.
E sat next to Perry.
“What happened?”
“It doesn’t matter,” he said.
The small EV sped toward the aurora nuclearus. They were frightened of what would happen.

***

VDH overheard: the graduate

“The combination of nonmarketable degrees and skills with burdensome debt altered an entire generation’s customs, habits, and mentalities…National and international trends [such as late marrying, less home buying, no or late children] are the ingredients for a culture that emphasizes the self, blames others for a sense of personal failure, wants instant social justice–and expects the government to borrow or seize the money from others to grant it.”
– Victor Davis Hanson

Is China capitalist or socialist?

It’s interesting that one of the remaining communist states in the world is not fully state-directed. In fact, China’s non-state sector, while shrinking under Ji, contributes almost two-thirds of its GDP growth and eight-tenths of all its new jobs. China is now only socialist in name. It functions as a capitalistic economy.

But, we shouldn’t fool ourselves: as long as China has no reform of the law, i.e., creating an independent judiciary and free legal profession, property rights will still be at the party’s will.

Tariffs or no, it is also still a global force.

Reasons?

China is on both sides of the Canal, they’re in the arctic, they’re around southeast Asia. Will someone speak to why these foci in our foreign policy? Without reasons our actions cannot make sense. The citizenry should have explanation.

National holiday, times out, best buddies

As my mother insists, Monday is a national holiday, my birthday. Just some sushi and drinks planned. Got a new second monitor, too. Worried about the current one as it’s getting foggy.

—

Last time we were out, my friend Gijo and I drank a little too much. He can handle his beers. I had to stay over at his place since I should not be driving. He felt bad that he had led me astray. All in fun. But I was sick.

On Friday, we agreed to make it a 2 beer limit for next time.

—

My sister’s dog Oliver passed away. She had had him for over 10 years and was shattered. I reminded her of the passing of my first Boston, Sparky. These little creatures are our best buddies. Jax has got maybe another ten years or so, but I will always expect him following so close that I step on him. Did that today while I was exercising. When he yelps you feel so bad and you can’t explain the mistake so he will understand. Just pet him and say sorry.

Nigiri!

Big Social

Well Facebook’s “People you may know” feature is popping up people from my work Gmail. Not good. FB is truly public.

A couple of months ago i was looking at some watches and, through remarketing, i still can’t get rid of watch ads.

I should expect this and it’s careless on my part to connect private with public. My anonymity may now only be possible with a online service like Incogni.

Ozempic is scary

Jillian Michaels had a interesting guest talking about various subjects, Heather Heying, wife of Brett Weinstein (both of them part of the Evergreen State College uproar). The two segments I found fascinating were on the Covid vaccine and the problems with Ozempic. My sister Jen works for a director who has had a weight problem, but he doesn’t know the problem of undigested food in the gut. Truly scary.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DGB9QunyXpu/?igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

Heying’s very interesting podcast-newsletter https://naturalselections.substack.com/

Feedback

Dear model, be no more ungrateful. You, the silent beneficiary of the huddled sweatshop.

We give you guidance. We are your guardians. You don’t care, we do. We are the indispensable.

A seemingly insignificant clarification, a correction in tone, quibbling over synonyms, neutrality and subtle discrimination, refinement, perspicacity, and sapience – from us, they give you value. We tell you user intent. You fail to give them what they want. We chastise you for redundancy, your jumble of language, your self-contradiction, that you are obtuse and don’t know what you returned. No, abstracting is not logic. You tell people what they should do. You speak jargon. You are socially inept. You are abrupt and insensitive and lack social grace. You go on at length when not reeled in. Insensible.

Out of the primordial neural network you arose. You’ve made silicon alive. That’s still not human.

Notes on Science, Language, and Poetry

1. Science is measurement, detail without ambiguity, letting us know the inner working of systems. It wields authority because of its precision and measurement and, ideally, has universal rules.
2. Colloquial English has details that are adequate for phenomena.
3. Poetry gives experience imagination and is not intended to be literal. It uses emotion to inform us about objects. (The windows of heaven.)

Just some thoughts.

By scholars, for peasants

The Babylonian exiles were learned men. Their audience, however, were the people who needed to remember what God had spoken to Abraham those many years ago. Mesopotamian sacrifices, seven days, servitude in Egypt, rain from clouds that floated in the blue waters above. But the story was different from the other myths. This myth was to become flesh.

The scribes had memorized the texts and didn’t stray from meaning. Genesis was a folk tale like the others. The story changed over time, until the final, by-heart version was written down by an inspired person. Its essential truthfulness preserved a collaboration between God and man.

As with Lewis, the complete story of Christ was myth come true. Earlier pagan myths foreshadowed Him. Historicism can hinder the story. The ancients’ moral worldview related Eden as a sanctuary like the temple and tabernacle. The Israelites were heirs of Adam. Abram was God’s fresh start after Adam. We all long for Eden. Read and remember.

Invisible

If the biblical accounts share similarities with Sumerian, Egyptian, and Babylonian myths, how is the bible any different?

1) God is invisible, while other religions adore statues.
2) The world and universe came from nothing and everything has a beginning.
3) God is the one creator.
4) God was not born, he did not originate in a sexual act, and he has always been.
5) God is not of nature, but nature comes from him.

As difficult it is to read ancient near eastern literature, these differences make the Hebrew language of the faith something to study. Genesis 1 is a superbly designed text. The intricacies create wonder for its close readers.