Gregory Lewis Web-Log

Halloween 2025: More Thoughts on the Apocalypse October 31st Halloween 2025 is two weeks away, followed by All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day. I am a Christian Baptists and we did not have much to do with anything at this time of year. As an undergraduate Philosophy major I had courses in Philosophy of Religion and participated in various Inter-Faith Dialogue Conferences. It was not until my later undergraduate college years at Virginia tech that I became intrigued with the history and religious significance of this transition to shorter days and longer nights. Afterwards, I spent an entire year reading the King James Study Bible authorized by Liberty University. I then spent an additional two years of personal research on the Apocalypse. I researched the Apocalypse using a three-pronged approach: 1. Philosophy of Religion, 2. Comparative Religion, and 3. with a practical disaster-preparedness perspective. I am currently researching how modern technology can help facilitate inter-faith...

 Saving Democracy (or Making America Great Again) We are in the final days of September 2025. Autumn has started and people are now settling into their Fall and Winter routines. Presently, a U.S. Government budget shutdown is looming, a tariff and international trade-war is ongoing, and here in Virginia early voting has already begun for the November general elections.  To start, I do not support, in any way, the violent overthrow of the U.S Government, nor do I support any violence against any government officials or government property. I believe government reform will happen in a peaceful manner, without violence, and those who have been robbing and victimizing the American citizenry these past decades will see True Justice. The monies and lands that have been stolen and swindled by corrupt U.S. government officials will be returned to their rightful owners, and formal apologies will be issued to the innocent American citizens who have been wrongfully targeted with endless ...

 Labor Day 2025 We are in the final days of August, and Americans will celebrate Labor Day 2025 on Monday. Labor Day represents the "unofficial" end of Summer. Schools and colleges have started their Fall terms. Farms, construction sites, and tourist destinations look to finish out their seasons before the first frost and snow falls. Here in Virginia, state elections and local politics will dominate the headlines for the next few months. Most Americans have little knowledge or understanding of the original meaning of the Labor Day Holiday. In the 20th Century, as the U.S. Economy transitioned from an agrarian-based economy to a manufacturing-based economy, there was a great deal of tension and conflict between laborers and management. As farm science and technology improved over the 20th century fewer farmers were needed to produce agricultural products. In some instances, farmers left their farms to work in factories that produced tractors and other farming equipment that ac...

Corn Ethanol is the King of the Alternative Bio-Fuels Maize Corn was first domesticated 9,000 years ago in what is today southern Mexico by Indigenous Native Americans. Cinteotl and Chicomecoatl were the primary Aztec Maize Corn deities. Maize Corn was planted as part of the Native American Three Sisters polyculture that included squash, maize corn, and the climbing or common bean. Called "Indian Corn" by Europeans, it was a major crop of the Columbian Exchange of the 1500's that introduced various crops and livestock between the different continents and cultures, and has since surpasses wheat and rice in worldwide production. In 2020, total world production of Maize Corn was 1.16 billion tonnes, with the United States and China, together, producing half of the world's Maize Corn. Maize Corn is a staple and primary food source in the diets of billions of people, with a wide-range of culinary recipe uses. Maize Corn can be distilled into Bourbon Whiskey, White Lightnin...

 Science, Technology, and Society Studies A popular, and growing, field of study is in the area of Science, Technology, and Society, or STS for short. STS examines the impact and effect of science and technology on individuals, groups, and in some instances, Nations and the Globe. Many of these various technologies are utilized on a global scale, and impacts many of the current 8.2 billion Earthly inhabitants. I am a Microsoft Certified Windows Programmer. Microsoft, a more than $3.5 trillion company, is considered by most to be the most valuable company on Earth. Microsoft has more than 1.6 billion active Windows Devices, worldwide. Today’s $2,000 Windows PC has 40X(times) the computing capability of an $8 million supercomputer of the late 1970’s. Microsoft is celebrating its 50th year of successful business this year, empowering individuals, schools, and businesses alike. Most of my PC work meets, or exceeds, U.S. Government / Military standards. Personal Computers are now essent...

 Sic Semper Tyrannis The Seal of Virginia Tech, my alma mater, prominently features an obverse of Virtue defeating Tyranny. The standing allegorical female figure of Virtue is shown having vanquished Tyranny, symbolized by a fallen king at her feet. She has an exposed breast in the manner of classical depictions of Amazons. The scene is adopted from the Flag and Seal of the State of Virginia that has its origins in the American Revolution of 1776. The motto shown on the seal, Sic Semper Tyrannis, means "Thus always to tyrants." It is only slightly ironic that Virginia is named after Queen Elizabeth I of England, who was known as the Virgin Queen because she never married. During ancient classical times of Greece and Rome Tyrants were political leaders who seized power by illegal means, but usually enjoyed widespread support among the masses. The poor and middle-classes of ancient Greece and Rome preferred Tyrants to the ruling monarchs or aristocracy. Nevertheless, by late an...