Mark Meek's Ideas

Thursday, January 29, 2026

Introduction To This Blog System

Image used by permission

Postings may be later combined into a compound posting on this blog. Many of the postings concern my observations in various branches of science, but there are also many on technology, religion, economics and, general world issues.

I would really like to thank everyone who reads any of these blogs for your interest.

SCIENCE WRITING

Most of the postings on this blog are visits to various places around the world, and articles about such topics as history and religion. But much of the writing is about science. I do not write about what is already known but only if I can write something new, or at least a new way of looking at things.

If you would like a quick background in the science and mathematics that everyone should really know in the 21st Century, the posting "Scientific Literacy" provides this in about a hundred paragraphs. Similarly, "The Way Things Work" provides a quick background in everyday technology.

I am a Christian and I want to show that belief in God is not unscientific at all. I was interested in science long before I was interested in religion, and have never had any trouble believing that God created everything.

There are five major scientific theories, each arranged in the form of a textbook. The first four of the following five are on this blog.

"The Theory Of Stationary Space" is my cosmological theory of how so much revolves around time being explained by us being in four-dimensional space, with the dimension that we cannot access being perceived as time. This is my version of string theory, with matter actually being strings in four dimensions rather than particles in three dimensions. Everything is ultimately based on negative and positive electric charges, with energy being able to overcome the laws of attraction and repulsion of electric charges. No one has ever explained exactly what time is, and a myriad of explanations of other things fall right into place around it.

"The Flow Of Information Through The Universe" is about how so much can be explained by seeing how there is a limited amount of information, and it must be the same information that constructs the highest levels as the lowest levels. A ready example is how the orbits of planets around the sun is based on the orbitals of electrons around the nucleus, in the atoms of which the sun and planets are composed. This concept is extremely useful because, understanding this, we can study things that we cannot directly see by analyzing things that we can see because all must be built on the same information.

"The Theory Of Complexity" is about what information actually is, how energy and information is really the same thing, and how we see the universe as we do because of our perspective of being at a higher level of information than our inanimate surroundings.

"The Lowest Information Point" is about how, since information and energy is really the same thing and the universe always seeks the lowest energy state, it also always seeks the "Lowest Information Point". So much is explained by how the universe prefers equalities to inequalities and related ratios where the numerator of one ratio is also the denominator of the other. This explains so much from why dust particles are as big as they to why the planets and stars are the scale that they are.

"The Story Of Planet Earth", on the geology blog, is about how virtually every major feature of the earth's surface, both on land and seafloor, can be explained by lines of magma emergence from below that were affected by the landing of three Continental Asteroids. Many people believe that land originated from a past "super-continent", but there is no explanation of where it came from.

There are a few of what we could call "minor" theories, where there is not as much written as with the major theories. On this blog, there is "How Biology And Human Life Fits Into Cosmology". On the meteorology and biology blog, there is my theory of the nature of water, "Water Made Really Simple".

There are compound postings about science which are groupings of writing about a certain topic.

Scientific compound postings include, "Computer Science", "Atomic Science", "Measurement", "A Celebration Of The Inverse Square Law", "Our Solar System", "Mind-Bending Cosmology", "The Configuration Of The Solar System Made Really Simple", "In Appreciation Of Electrons", "The Science Of Human Society " and "Orbital And Escape Velocities And Impacts from Space".

Compound postings about history and the world include "The House Of Holy Wisdom, Where The Modern World Began", "Niagara Stories", "Economics", "How History Repeats Itself", "The Meaning Of Freedom", "The Western Hemisphere", "Our Language" and, "America And The Modern World Explained By Way Of Paris".

There are two compound postings about prophecies and the Bible. There is "The Aztec Prophecy" than, for prophecies that are directly made in the Bible there is "New Insight Into Bible Prophecy".

"Investigations" is the compound posting that is a collection of any posting about an investigation.

The rest of the postings are individual postings. For more detailed information about this blog, see the posting "Thanks To Readers". For general topics of conversation, see "Thoughts And Observations", on the world and economics blog.

Other Blogs And Books

Lights at night

Here is a quick look at my other blogs before you start this one.

On this blog, you can see a list of all postings by clicking on the year or month to the right. But on the topical blogs, that is not the case. If you click on a year or month on those blogs, it will display the postings themselves, but the list on the right will still only show those postings that were added most recently.

To access a list of all postings on those blogs, it is necessary to click on the arrow in front of the year or month in question.

http://www.markmeekeconomics.blogspot.com/ is about economics, history and, general human issues.

http://www.markmeekprogress.blogspot.com/ concerns progress in technology and ideas.

http://www.markmeekearth.blogspot.com/ is my geology and global natural history blog for topics other than glaciers. My natural history blogs concerning the impact of glaciers is http://www.markmeekworld.blogspot.com/ .

http://www.markmeekniagara.blogspot.com/ is about new discoveries concerning natural history in the general area of Niagara Falls.

http://www.markmeeklife.blogspot.com/ is my observations concerning meteorology and biology.

http://www.markmeekphysics.blogspot.com/ is my blog about physics and astronomy.

http://www.markmeekcosmology.blogspot.com/ is my version of string theory that solves many unsolved mysteries about the underlying structure and beginning of the universe.

http://www.markmeekpatterns.blogspot.com/ details my work with the fundamental patterns and complexity that underlies everything in existence.

http://www.markmeekreligion.blogspot.com/ is my religion blog.

http://www.markmeekcreation.blogspot.com/ is proof that there must be a god.

http://www.markmeekphotos.blogspot.com/ is my travel photos of Europe.

On my photo blogs, Blogspot will not hold all of the photos in each blog in a straight line. To see all of the photos, you must click on the bottom posting listed on the right at the top of the blog after seeing all that there are in the initial showing. The last posting in the North America blog should be "Tijuana, Mexico" and the last posting in the Europe blog should be "Notre Dame Cathedral Door And Arc De Triomphe, Paris". Each photo in the photo blogs can be clicked on to enlarge it to full screen.

My autobiography is http://www.mark-meek.blogspot.com/

My books can be seen at http://www.bn.com/ http://www.amazon.com/ or, http://www.iuniverse.com/ just do an author search for "Mark Meek".

Luxembourg And The Great Fortress

This small European country actually began with a great fortress. This is a story that we do not hear very much about nowadays, but I think has guided the course of history more than is generally realized.

There used to be a great fortress, probably the greatest fortress that the world has ever seen. It started as a Roman fort. In the Middle Ages, it was rebuilt as a castle. The fortress was in a very strategic location, and was an important strategic point for nearly a thousand years.

Every major power in continental Europe held the fortress, at one time or another. All of them improved the fortress and added onto it. The world had never seen anything like this fortress before. In military terms, it was like the crown of northern Europe.

A city grew up around the fortress. Usually, a fortress is built to protect a city. But with this great fortress, the opposite was the case. It was the fortress that came first, and the supporting city grew up beside it.

In the days before modern mobile warfare, whichever power controlled this incredible fortress effectively controlled northwestern Europe. The powers of Europe decided that the way to have peace was by a balance of power. But that was not possible because whoever held this fortress was inevitably in the dominant position.

Finally, in 1867, the powers of Europe decided that the best thing to do, to bring about lasting peace, would be to demolish the fortress. It took a long time to take the fortress apart, so much of it being underground in endless tunnels, and it was nowhere near completely demolished. The area all around the fortress was to be designated as neutral territory.

Unfortunately, the destruction of the fortress did not bring about lasting peace. But it did bring a city into being, the city that grew up around it, and it did effectively bring a nation into being, the surrounding area that was designated as neutral territory.

That nation today is known as Luxembourg, and the city has the same name, Luxembourg City. It is a highly-rated place to live.

There are no good photographs of the fortress before it was demolished, since much of it was endless kilometers of underground bunkers and passageways. But enough of it remains today to be a tourist attraction in Luxembourg.

The following scenes, which include portions of the former fortress on the side of a cliff, begin inside Luxembourg's Notre Dame Cathedral. The first five scenes of Notre Dame Cathedral are from Google Earth and Street View.

There are multiple scenes following. To see the scenes, after the first one, you must first click the up arrow, ^, before you can move on to the next scene by clicking the right or forward arrow, >. After clicking the up arrow, you can then hide the previews of successive scenes, if you wish.

https://www.google.com/maps/@49.6096119,6.1316004,3a,75y,100h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipPFSGnFSnr6u5mMjNS6vfk9xOb-lcIGJDpBdU6K!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipPFSGnFSnr6u5mMjNS6vfk9xOb-lcIGJDpBdU6K%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi0-ya287.2247-ro-0-fo100!7i8704!8i4352

Here are some more scenes of the central part of Luxembourg City. The first three images are from Google Earth.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Luxembourg/@49.6044619,6.1290486,3a,75y,239.33h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sonUfZgUCR403_hBZPdo9Lw!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fcb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile%26w%3D900%26h%3D600%26pitch%3D0%26panoid%3DonUfZgUCR403_hBZPdo9Lw%26yaw%3D239.33273!7i13312!8i6656!4m6!3m5!1s0x479548cd9df32c57:0x400d1d6d1056d10!8m2!3d49.6123327!4d6.1258432!16zL20vMGZxOGY?authuser=0&entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI1MTExMi4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D

This is an area further from the city center. The first three images are from Google Street View.

https://www.google.com/maps/@49.5944131,6.1456803,3a,75y,187h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sbj213bUvNcsh6aUwQUWI_Q!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo1.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3Dbj213bUvNcsh6aUwQUWI_Q%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D187.5%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

This is a residential and business area, toward the outside of the city. The first four images are from Google Street View.

https://www.google.com/maps/@49.6078289,6.1044804,3a,75y,316h,87t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sstn_jJjeRt2R_CdOKovc9g!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo0.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3Dstn_jJjeRt2R_CdOKovc9g%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D316.5%26pitch%3D-3%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

The following scenes are of a town just outside Luxembourg City. The first three images are from Google Street View.

https://www.google.com/maps/@49.6486204,5.9946328,3a,75y,136h,88t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipNY-FpH7lg2e2137dVz2TUvqQKQreJjihqzNmU!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipNY-FpH7lg2e2137dVz2TUvqQKQreJjihqzNmU%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-2.9999962-ya78.50001-ro-0-fo100!7i8704!8i4352

I have never seen anything written about the long-term impact on history that this fortress must have had. It was the most vital strategic point in northern Europe for nearly a thousand years. Every major power in continental Europe held the fortress, at one time or another, and made continuous additions and improvements. It must have had a powerful historical impact.

An entire generation of young Europeans is said to have never come home from the horrific trench warfare on the Western Front, in the First World War. Both sides dug into their trenches. Neither side was able to break the stalemate. Thousands of soldiers might die trying to capture a hundred meters of ground.

Horrific new weapons were developed in an effort to break the deadly stalemate in the trenches on the Western Front. These new weapons included poison gas and flamethrowers. Poison gas, such as mustard and chlorine gas, was slightly heavier than air. The idea is that, if an artillery shell containing gas could land near an enemy trench, the poison gas would seep down into the trench, which was below ground level.

But here is the question about the tactics on the Western Front. There was also a parallel Eastern Front, of the First World War, going on at the same time. Why is it that the combat on the Eastern Front, the Central Powers against Russia, was much more fluid and mobile and never bogged down into the trench warfare of the Western Front? The Allied battles against the Ottoman Empire, for the most part except for Gallipoli, never got into trench warfare as much either.

Could it be that the historical influence of this great fortress in Luxembourg had trapped western Europe in a "fortress mentality" that brought about the notorious trench warfare on the Western Front, where the fortress had been located, while the tactics on the other fronts of the war were much more fluid and mobile? Even though the fortress had been decommissioned, and partly dismantled, fifty years before, it had been the greatest fortress in Europe, and maybe in the world, for nearly a thousand years.

What about the Second World War? As the war became nearly inevitable, seventy years after the end of the great fortress, it's history was still very much present. It is very difficult to move on from a thousand years of history, even if we think we have.

The defensive tactics of the western Allies have baffled historians. If there was another war, surely tanks would rule the day. Tanks had been introduced by Britain, in the First World War as one of the new weapons developed in an effort to break the trench stalemate, and it had been France's own Charles De Gaulle who literally "wrote the book" on future tank warfare. The Wikipedia article on De Gaulle describes him as the "prophet of armored warfare".

But, as it turns out, it was the Nazis who realized that the world was now in the era of tanks. Belgium, the neighbor of Luxembourg, built a fantastic fortress of it's own, Eben Emael. It was as if the country was trying to bring back the unbeatable fortress that had dominated northwestern Europe for nearly a thousand years. The French Government, ignoring De Gaulle's efforts to focus on tanks, built an impregnable fortress of it's own, the Maginot Line all along the border between France and Germany.

The Nazis built a copy of Eben Emael, in order to practice an attack on it. When war came, Nazi paratroopers landed on the roof of the fort, where they were out of reach of the fort's guns, in gliders. They had a relatively easy time disabling the fort. It was almost like the Twentieth Century against the Sixteenth Century.

As for the Maginot Line, Nazi tanks simply ignored it and went around it, across Belgium now that Eben Emael had been captured.

My explanation of these ineffective static fortress tactics is the historical influence of the great fortress at Luxembourg. It was the French who most greatly valued the fortress, prior to it's decommissioning and partial dismantling in 1867, and the Maginot line was an attempt to bring it back.

Such was the historical importance of this great fortress that it's influence spread to the other side of the world, and adversely affected the British and Americans who had never held the fort.

In the Second World War, Britain heavily fortified Singapore as an attack by sea was anticipated. In a repetition of the Maginot Line the forces of Imperial Japan simply ignored the fortifications and attacked from the other direction, through the dense jungle, which the British had considered as impossible.

Also in the Second World War the U.S. had it's own massive fortress, that proved to be obsolete, at Corregidor.

The Vietnam War was actually three separate wars. The second was the one that America was involved in. The First Vietnam War was France's war. The influence of the great fortress was still there and France built a great fortress in Vietnam, at Dien Bien Phu. When it was America's turn the great fortress was built at Khe Sanh.

Apocalyptic Developments

This is in regard to the scenario described in the parallel postings "The End Of The World As We Know It" and "Inducing The Apocalypse".

Donald Trump has so alienated Europe that he is considered as almost as much of a nuisance as Vladimir Putin. Greenland is Donald Trump's version of Ukraine. Since the world is moving back toward a "great power" era, there is a lot of discussion about the "middle powers" banding together. The "middle powers" could produce a leader of their own, that would be greater than Trump or Putin, and that is just what we would expect the Antichrist to be.

Remember that we don't know for sure what the Antichrist's official position will be. It is widely presumed that he will be a political leader, and that is likely correct, but we don't know for sure. There will be an assassination attempt on the Antichrist, and he will amaze the world by apparently coming back to life. This implies that the Antichrist will go around giving speeches. It is possible that the Antichrist will emerge by way of something like Donald Trump's Board of Peace. There is some possibility that the Antichrist won't have any official position at all.

Just as the Greenland issue is undermining NATO, the Board of Peace is undermining the United Nations. Donald Trump having complete control over the Board of Peace is undermining democracy, and is setting the stage for the new world order of the Antichrist, and his having complete control over everything.

Donald Trump is moving naval forces to the Persian Gulf while warning that "time is running out" for Iran to make a nuclear deal. We know that Iran will be part of the future invasion of Israel that will start the final series of wars of the world.

Ezekiel states that "Ethiopia" will also be part of the future invasion of Israel. It could refer to the modern nation of Ethiopia but I have wondered if it might be a general term for Africa and actually refers to one or more black African countries. According to news reports, there are Africans serving as mercenaries with Russia, in the war with Ukraine.

For nearly eighty years, atomic scientists have operated the "Doomsday Clock". Midnight represents the earth undergoing a man-made catastrophe. The scientists decide how far from midnight the clock should be set. It is now closer to midnight than it has ever been. But Doomsday will not come just yet. The Antichrist will have all the answers to everything, at least for a while.

Earthquake In Ontario

There has been an earthquake in Ontario, north of Toronto. What is happening is that the tectonic collision that formed the mountains and ridges of the Appalachians is still going on. Remember the Humber Line that I discovered. It is the focal line of the curve in the Appalachians across Pennsylvania. Since the collision front was moving from west to east, it is just east of the Humber Line that earthquakes tend to occur.

This is the Humber Line. It starts at the "focal point" of the curve of the Appalachians, around Harrisburg in Pennsylvania, and extends northwestward to form the long axis of Georgian Bay. Image from Google Earth.

The Humber Line shapes the physical geography of the land, such as forming near straight-line shores. The far eastern shore of Lake Erie is part of the Humber Line and the earthquake in West Seneca, in February 2023, was, like the one in Ontario, centered just east of the Humber Line. Image from Google Earth.

Here is a link to "Niagara Natural History Summary". This describes the natural history chronologically. The first part is about the geology of the Appalachian Collision, including the Humber Line. The second part is about much more recent glacial history, since the end of the last ice age.

www.markmeeksideas.blogspot.com/2019/06/niagara-natural-history-summary.html?m=0

The Preferred Interaction Mechanism

This isn't anything breakthrough but I haven't seen it explained before.

When two objects are on course to meet, the Preferred Interaction Mechanism is electromagnetic and a collision is secondary. A collision will occur only when it is not possible to resolve the interaction electromagnetically. Whether that is possible depends on the presence of electric charges. If electric charges are present then the interaction will be resolved electromagnetically. In atoms, the electric charges ordinarily balance out so that there is no net charge. It is only then that the interaction will be resolved by collision.

If two particles of like charge, such as two electrons, are moving toward each other there will be no collision between them because it will be prevented by their mutual repulsion. But some electromagnetic radiation will be produced so that the interaction will be resolved electromagnetically.

If two objects of equal mass, one composed of matter and the other of antimatter, are moving toward each other neither will there be a collision. The two objects will mutually annihilate in a burst of electromagnetic radiation without a "collision", in which momentum is transferred from one object to the other but the total momentum must be conserved. Again the interaction will be resolved electromagnetically.

But if two objects, both composed of atoms of matter, are moving toward each other a collision will occur. The momentum will take on a new pattern, as it is transferred from one object to the other, but the total momentum must be conserved. The collision may not be a perfect "textbook" collision, as elasticity in the objects may be a factor and some of the momentum may be transformed into noise but the total momentum must be conserved.

This means that the interaction has been resolved by collision, rather than electromagnetically. This only happens if the interaction doesn't involve net electric charges, as when the objects are composed of electrically neutral atoms. This is why lightning produces electromagnetic waves but an earthquake doesn't. A nuclear explosion produces electromagnetic radiation because atoms are broken apart.

The fact that an interaction can be resolved either electromagnetically or by collision shows that my cosmology theory must be correct. In the physics of a collision, momentum must be conserved. Momentum is transferred from one object to another but the total momentum must be conserved. But if it could also be resolved electromagnetically, that can only mean that the matter of the objects themselves must be electromagnetic in nature.

In my cosmology theory, everything in the universe consists of negative and positive electric charges. Space is a checkerboard of alternating negative and positive charges, in multiple dimensions. Opposite charges attract while like charges repel but these two rules can be overcome, to some extent, by energy. Energy overcoming the repulsion between like charges results in the collections of like charges that we see as charged particles, such as electrons. The energy in the matter shows up as mass, that we refer to as the Mass-Energy Equivalence. Energy overcoming the attraction between opposite charges creates electromagnetic radiation.

Electromagnetism is the Preferred Interaction Mechanism but electromagnetic radiation can only be produced by net electric charges. This is why a car crash or an ordinary explosion produces no electromagnetic radiation but lightning or a nuclear explosion does. When there are no net electric charges, as when the objects in collision are composed of atoms, the interaction will be resolved by collision.

But just as total momentum must be conserved in a collision, the total displacement of electric charges from the checkerboard pattern of empty space must be conserved if the interaction is resolved electromagnetically. During a matter-antimatter reaction, both masses vanish in a tremendous burst of energy. What is happening is that the energy that was holding both masses together, against the mutual repulsion of like charges, is turned to opposing the attraction of opposite charges. This releases the energy, formerly the Mass-Energy Equivalence, and the energy is released as electromagnetic radiation while the charges that were formerly in each mass rearrange back into the alternating checkerboard pattern of empty space.

The universe as we know it depends on the exchange of momentum that takes place in collisions, but also on the electromagnetic radiation that is released when no collision takes place. The universe is as it is because of the existing balance between the two. When atoms are crunched together, by the tremendous heat and gravity inside a star, that doesn't count as a collision and, since the arrangement of the charged particles composing the atoms are disrupted, electromagnetic radiation is released. Electrons are crunched into protons to create neutrons. This is why stars shine.

The Crusade Theory Of Economics

I believe that a major factor in the weakness of the economy as it is now is the wars of the past. There has been so much warfare over the past century that the economy which has developed operates as if it was "designed" to accommodate and support a war. We can make what we need with fewer workers than we have, the result is often high unemployment if there is no war going on. The lack of a war means nothing to absorb unemployment, such as mass conscription, as well as nothing, such as the demand for war equipment, to create more industrial orders.

Plainly and simply, we have made production so efficient that we must fill the resulting gap in full employment with some type of crusade.

Notice that, in the U.S., there is never a recession when there is a major war in progress. The country was prosperous during the Vietnam War of the 1960s and early 1970s, but entered a recession soon afterward. How can the country be doing so well economically while the war was going on, but then nowhere near as well for the rest of the 1970s? It is because we have an economy that has developed to support the warfare that it requires both to absorb unemployment and for factory orders.

Whether it seems to make sense or not, a major war is the surest way to cure an economic depression. The government programs known as the New Deal of the 1930s certainly helped, but the U.S. did not truly emerge from the Great Depression until the Second World War.

In Germany, there was a democratically-elected government, known as the Weimar Republic, but it could not handle the economic crisis that began in the U.S. with the crash of 1929. A party called the Nazis emerged with the simple-yet-brilliant idea of absorbing unemployment by drastically expanding the military and getting factories back to full production capacity by manufacturing military equipment for them.

In the 1980s, militarism was a central component of Ronald Reagan's economic plan, not only to confront Communism but also to revive the economy. The plans included a possible six hundred ship navy, and the "Star Wars" missile defense shield. Not only would it supposedly create a booming economy, it would also force the Communists into an arms race that they could not afford.

The unprecedented U.S. dominance and prosperity from the mid-forties to the mid-seventies was due to the economic support provided by the Second World War, the Korean War and, the Vietnam War. The more recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan could not provide anywhere near the same support because of the lack of conscription. The soldiers who served in those wars were volunteers, who were in the military already. In comparison with the size of the U.S. economy, the relatively low-level combat in these wars did not generate any mass manufacturing of military equipment.

The world wars generated economic prosperity not actually during the wars, but afterward. The reason for this is that, in the world wars, conscription was for the duration of the war while in the Vietnam War, tours of duty were for one year. There cannot be maximum prosperity while many millions of soldiers are away and are not engaging in consumer spending, the prosperity generated by the war will come afterward.

World War One was followed by "The Roaring Twenties", which unfortunately crashed in 1929. World War Two was followed by an even greater period of prosperity, the postwar boom of suburbs growing across America and the building of the interstate highway system to connect them. The manufacturing of war equipment switched to cars after the war. The fifties are sometimes known as "The American Decade" when, incredibly, half of the industrial production in the entire world took place in the U.S.

One reason that military production is a reliable way to generate economic demand is that, due to national security concerns, the manufacture of vital military equipment is less likely to be outsourced overseas.

The necessary crusade does not necessarily have to be a war. The U.S. interstate highway construction of the late 1950s bridged the gap between the Korean and Vietnam Wars so that the prosperity was unbroken. Then there was the urban renewal of the sixties and seventies and spin-off products from the Apollo Space Program.

Economics is complex and this is not the only reason for prosperity, or the lack thereof. The recovery from the destruction of the Second World War of other countries, and the progressive modernization of most of the world, all gave America a lot more competition. But I am certain that a primary factor in prosperity is that the economy which has developed is one which is geared to support a war, or other great undertaking that produces millions of jobs and generates a vast demand for equipment or other material, and it suffers when such an undertaking is absent.

Do Pandemics Actually Preserve Civilization?

I really don't like to write this but, even before Covid I wondered if God allows pandemics to happen to preserve civilization.

The worst pandemic of all was the Bubonic Plague, the "Black Death" of the late Middle Ages. The population of Europe was gradually increasing but the death toll was so high that in 1500 the population reached where it had been in 1300. In other words the pandemic set population growth back by about two hundred years.

It recurred periodically after that. Sir Isaac Newton was a professor at Cambridge University. He made his best-known discoveries not at the university but while home in 1666 because the university was closed due to the plague.

But what about the Reformation, which began in 1517? It caused warfare across northern Europe for more than a century. The Thirty Years War was probably the most destructive war in Europe until the world wars.

The more people that are involved in a war, the more soldiers on each side, the more destructive the war is likely to be. Without the population curtailment caused by the Bubonic Plague the wars of the Reformation would have been much more destructive than they already were. The wars could have been much more destructive than the plague itself and could have destroyed European civilization which, at the time, was the center of Christianity.

The next destructive pandemic that comes to mind is the Spanish Flu. It coincided with the end of the First World War in 1918. The same principle applies as with the Bubonic Plague. When soldiers return home from war they tend to start families. There is the famous "Baby Boomers" that were born after the Second World War, and which we will get to shortly.

It is no secret that the Second World War came when the sons of First World War veterans reached military age. But have you ever noticed that while there is the Baby Boom generation following the Second World War, with rock music as their anthem, we never seem to hear of a similar baby boom after the First World War? It is because the Spanish Flu killed so many people, and it tended to kill people in their prime before they could have children.

If the Second World War came when the sons of First World War veterans reached military age what might it have been like if that generation had not been curtailed by the Spanish Flu? As it is the Second World War was by far the deadliest and most destructive conflict in human history. What might it have been like if there had been twice as many soldiers on each side? It could have destroyed human civilization.

This world order will have it's end but God was preserving it for the appointed time.

Now let's go back to the Baby Boomers. This is the great increase in people that were born after the Second World War, generally defined as from 1946 to 1964. Throughout human history young people have far outnumbered old people. The Baby Boom generation has upended this and now the consequences are becoming apparent.

Not only did the Baby Boom upset demographics but there have been outstanding medical advances during their time that have greatly lengthened life expectancy. Nuclear weapons have made it so that there hasn't been another world war to curtail population growth.

This has brought about an unprecedented crisis in many countries with a population of old people needing care and nowhere near enough young people to take care of them.

The real reason for persistent inflation and high prices is that more and more older people have to be taken care of by fewer and fewer younger workers. This effectively creates more of a service economy, with more people not actually working, which drives up both wages and prices relative to a more production-based economy.

In some countries with a really top-heavy ratio of old-to-young, such as Japan, doubts have been expressed about how long society can function like this. As stated, I really don't like to write this but what if Covid hadn't reduced by millions the population of elderly people that would need to be cared for? Unlike the Spanish Flu, which tended to kill people in their prime thus reducing the number of soldiers in the next world war, Covid mostly killed elderly people, and those who would have needed care anyway. While we don't like to think about it this might have made some societies unable to operate without it.

I have always found it interesting how Jesus said "This Generation' will not pass until all of these things have taken place". During most of human history a generation, in terms of society as a whole, has not really been definable. People are being born and dying continuously so generations are not definable. The Second World War changed that. The best-known defined generation ever is the Baby Boomers. When they had children it brought about Generations X, Y and, Z.

It turns out that the Baby Boomers were the generation that was coming of age when the Old City of Jerusalem came back under Jewish control for the first time since ancient times, which is what Jesus referred to when He foretold that "This Generation' will not pass away until all of these things are fulfilled", meaning the establishment of Jesus' Kingdom on earth after the Tribulation Period. This means that there will be Baby Boomers still alive when Jesus' Kingdom is established on earth.

Another thing that has recently been in the news is widespread concern over the dangers of AI. Remember that, in the Book of Revelation it is foretold that, in the Last Days of the world, there will be a statue of the Antichrist to "come to life" and praise the Antichrist. We saw all of this in the posting on this blog "The End Of The World As We Know It".

Iran And BRICS

I won't repost it but we saw how the tariff policies of Donald Trump could be a great boost for BRICS. This is the diverse organization of nations that is looking to counter the economic dominance of the West. A parallel organization to BRICS is the SCO, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, having many of the same member nations. My impression is that the SCO is more about the military while BRICS is more about economics. Donald Trump's tariffs are the best thing that ever happened to both organizations.

But now what about Iran? The recent protests were over the diminished value of the currency, and the resulting inflation. But Iran had joined BRICS. The purpose of BRICS is economic cooperation among it's members, which now comprise nearly half of the world's population.

Shouldn't this boost Iran's currency? What if BRICS should ever adapt a common currency, whether a new or existing currency? This would strengthen Iran against any sanctions. I see the sanctions on Iran as putting BRICS against the West.

Here is a link to the posting.

www.markmeeksideas.blogspot.com/2025/04/donald-trump-and-brics.html?m=0

Thursday, January 22, 2026

A Journey Around Belgium

Last week we visited Brussels, the capital city of Belgium. Today's visit is to the rest of the country. We will start at Antwerp, in northern Belgium, and move clockwise.

Antwerp was once possibly the busiest port in the world. It was a center of international trade in commodities such as sugar and spices. It is today a center of oil refining, with crude oil that has been brought in by ship. Belgium split away from the Netherlands, in 1830, because it wanted to remain Catholic. There are statues of Mary on many street corners in Antwerp.

The following scenes begin in the Grote Markt, or Main Square of Antwerp. The stone buildings with peaked roofs were guild houses. The first six images are from Google Earth and Street View.

There are multiple scenes following. To see the scenes, after the first one, you must first click the up arrow ^, before you can move on to the next scene by clicking the right or forward arrow, >, After clicking the up arrow, you can then hide the previews of successive scenes, if you wish.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Grote+Markt,+2000+Antwerpen,+Belgium/@51.2211488,4.3999313,3a,75y,94.92h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sIf3_d5EBxQtGyBzjt1N3uQ!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fcb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile%26w%3D900%26h%3D600%26pitch%3D0%26panoid%3DIf3_d5EBxQtGyBzjt1N3uQ%26yaw%3D94.9196877577027!7i16384!8i8192!4m6!3m5!1s0x47c3f6f647a587fb:0xbf6e3b320ec18fdc!8m2!3d51.22114!4d4.4002183!16s%2Fm%2F011x3p7k?authuser=0&entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI1MTExMi4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D

This is more of central Antwerp. The first four images are from Google Street View. The first two of those are of the castle called Het Steen.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Lange+Nieuwstraat,+2000+Antwerpen,+Belgium/@51.2202581,4.409776,3a,75y,155.12h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sdj_EqsG5rolCYDvWOhoPCg!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fcb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile%26w%3D900%26h%3D600%26pitch%3D0%26panoid%3Ddj_EqsG5rolCYDvWOhoPCg%26yaw%3D155.11821605625718!7i16384!8i8192!4m6!3m5!1s0x47c3f6f8d691f133:0x2aac70ee619c9ef!8m2!3d51.2195827!4d4.4104211!16s%2Fg%2F1x6q0y8n?authuser=0&entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI1MTExMi4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D

Antwerp is the focal point of the global diamond trade. Here is it's "Diamond District". The first image is from Google Earth.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Antwerp+diamond+district/@51.2151672,4.4187262,3a,75y,66.69h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1s7fUDEjUpkKGBtMvAbzyVBg!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fcb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile%26w%3D900%26h%3D600%26pitch%3D0%26panoid%3D7fUDEjUpkKGBtMvAbzyVBg%26yaw%3D66.69061462884257!7i13312!8i6656!4m6!3m5!1s0x47c3f70251986173:0x2de12234e4d04036!8m2!3d51.2144888!4d4.4190257!16s%2Fm%2F0gvtqw7?authuser=0&entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI1MTExMi4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D

This is a newer residential area of Antwerp. The two images are from Google Street View.

In the eastern part of Belgium is the city of Liege. It is a former industrial city that, like Antwerp, dates from medieval times. There was a parallel movement to the French Revolution in Belgium that destroyed the old Cathedral of St. Lambert in Liege. The Prince Bishop Palace, next to it, is still there today. The first six images of the palace are from Google Earth and Street View.