Proclaimed Immortality of Forgotten Obscurity

“Our existence is but a brief crack of light between two eternities of darkness.”

-Vladimir Nabokov

As the burgeoning social media landscape has increasingly expanded into daily routine, humanity shares exuberance for an unprecedented, if not over-extended, communion with each other. People discuss, argue, and share their lifestyles, thoughts, and other miscellany, with colleagues and strangers alike. Even more, they, literally, have begun to share themselves as thousands submit biological samples directly to genealogy websites and online health-related companies. This in turn leads to another notion: what if someone’s consciousness could be shareable? Photographs and videos will be insufficient to push the boundaries of this revolutionary form of artificial intelligence and virtual reality combination.

Looking beyond leisurely activities, practical applications are suggestible as well. Minds ravaged by various ailments can be salvaged from the devastating effects, while those with intact faculties can thwart its occurrence altogether. Acceptance and normalization of euthanasia as an individual choice makes this idea less taboo, no longer carrying the stigma of previous generations. Of course, this is deemed merely a fanciful thought exercise until technology is developed for such procedures. Then, everything starts off harmless with no indication of the impending consequences; even those initially opposed, arguing the dire folly, eventually concede to its usefulness.

No more cemeteries to encase the deceased for eternity and beyond. Crematories no longer function as alternatives for those wishing not to endure the circumstance of slow decay. No mourning for the lost, in the sense of an existence forever gone. There exist only mausoleums of the living, preserved as taunting reminders of what is past rather than invoke dread or terror of what is to come. Humanity now resides as the perpetual living dead.

Dead in any physical embodiment, hauntingly alive in digitized form. Our invocations and shrieks inaudible to even those most closely connected to us. Categorized, indexed, and archived as both documentation of and memorial to our existence, yet no longer confined by the limits of historical constructs for similar preservation. A collective of individuals that once existed, and technically still do, but not in any politically or socially apt context. Nothing more than digital fossils - not dissimilar to bygone interstellar archival ambassadors, Voyagers I and II - perhaps for another civilization to discover.

This is our fate both by circumstance and choice, and it is ours for eternity and beyond.

©2018 Steve Sagarra

Never Breaking Stride

Thirty years ago, I inherited my dad's collection of bolts, nails, nuts, screws, etc. A collection that has grown considerably since my teenage years, from a mixed assortment thrown into a lone mason jar to several compartmentalized storage units organized by type. In many families this might be considered a rite of passage, each generation passing down similarly useful “heirlooms” to the next. In my case, it was not by choice or any ritual ceremony; it was fateful tragedy when he suddenly passed away, caused by a ruptured brain aneurysm resulting in an ensuing fatal stroke. However, this is not about rehashing that sorrowful circumstance or to grieve once again over it.

This is about a ghost story.

One night shortly after his passing, my mom, sisters, and I were fast asleep in our respective bedrooms. We lived in a split-level ranch-style house, the frontal appearance showing only a single level excepting for two levels indicated in the back and along the sides. My sisters had the front upstairs bedrooms across from each other, while I had the rear one; our mom slept in the downstairs master bedroom in the front corner of the house. In an instant, all of us were jolted awake by the sound of heavy footsteps on the roof. Emerging from our rooms, we stared at each other in fearful bewilderment. Simultaneously exclaiming, inquiring about the noise, we shared one thought with no definite answer. Hesitant, but acting swiftly, I threw on jeans and shoes to investigate outside in spite of pleading reservations. I was the “man” of the house now, and I intended to carry on that duty.

Snatching a flashlight from the utility room, I cautiously walked out via the garage into the backyard with equal parts bravado and dread. Given the direction of the presumptive footsteps - and the reasonable necessity of a ladder not only to climb up but also escape down - it seemed the appropriate location to search first if someone had been on the roof. With all the external lights turned on, I also grabbed an implement - most likely a shovel, although I do not recall specifically - from the garage to use as a weapon. After sweeping the perimeter and street, both by myself and with our spooked but generally agreeable dog, nothing and no one turned up. Whoever, or whatever, had made the sound - remembered, even to this day, as the unmistakable cadence of human footsteps - had vanished without further commotion or evidence.

Sometime after on another late evening, mom noticed a man, tall with an average build, standing outside on the step leading to the window-paneled backdoor. No one else home, he impassively stared into the kitchen without further action or apparent intention. Dressed in a red flannel jacket, she witnessed him simply turn, as if walking away, and disappear into the shadowy backyard as quickly as he had appeared. When I returned from a neighbor’s house shortly thereafter, she described the event to me in tearful panic. Same as before, I grabbed a flashlight and leashed the dog to search the surrounding area. Once again, whoever it may have been had vanished without further commotion or evidence.

In hindsight, it obviously may have been prudent to call the police concerning both incidents, but, honestly, that never even crossed our minds. Often, though, I think about the times dad and I spent perched on the roof watching various fireworks displays from surrounding municipalities during celebratory holidays. Or, I think about the times he worked in the yard or on the family cars wearing his red flannel jacket in the cooler months. Perhaps the sounds and sights were nothing more than an indelible farewell conjured forth by residual energy and memory. Illusive reminders that his spirit lives on, not to haunt but as echoes watching over us. And to affirm that the collection of bolts, nails, nuts, screws, etc, always will continue to grow.
 

©2018 Steve Sagarra

AvPvT: The Predminaliener

In 1987, a commando team encounters a predatory alien species in the jungles of Central America. Their leader, Major Dutch Schaefer, is the lone survivor. Due to this circumstance, the government - using his attributes and likeness as a model for technology based on the classified research of Dr. Miles Dyson - initiates full-scale development of the Terminator program to counter this new threat. When the latter, known as Skynet, gains sentience, humanity realizes too late the greater threat this counter-measure poses than the Predator it was meant to stop.

Ten years later, gang warfare and riots engulf Los Angeles. As citizens are hunted by an unknown entity - suspected by certain individuals to be a Predator - an elite squad composed of both law enforcement and military personnel investigates the matter. Meanwhile, Skynet determines a course of action that will cause world-wide decimation. Realizing the only way to save humanity is by destroying it, nuclear missiles are launched against key targets on August 29, 1997. As the dawn of Judgment Day advances for the human race, it will not be the last.

After John Connor - prepared and trained by his mother Sarah, having first encountered a Terminator in 1984 - eventually thwarts and leads humanity to victory over Skynet, Earth rebuilds and colonizes space. Law enforcement agents, known as Blade Runners, are further tasked with tracking down and eliminating any remaining hostile replicants that may pose a continuing danger. They are specially trained to detect human-like synthetic infiltration models. One notable agent in particular, Rick Deckard, has not been seen in decades after disappearing in 2019.

In 2122, the commercial space freighter Nostromo receives and investigates a distress signal. The crew soon discover an alien lifeform that preys upon them on a hostile planet. The lone survivor of this encounter, Ellen Ripley, is humanity's latest hope of survival against this Alien threat...one the Predators previously had fought and hunted, and with which they may still be at war. Back on Earth, bureaucrats and corporate officials - failing to understand the consequences of such folly from the devastating Skynet War - only consider this new species a potential weapon ripe for exploitation. They will do everything to possess it, no matter how many lives or the time it takes.

Remember their names - Connor; Deckard; Ripley; Schaefer. Heroes from different eras in dire times of need, all with a singular mission: save humanity from its own hubris. 

©2018 Steve Sagarra

Gold Leader Given More Screen Time

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…

It is a time of immense despair for the Resistance,

but also one of renewed hope. As they continue to

battle and evade the First Order, who seek to wipe

them out once and for all, their desperate pleas

for help so far go unanswered...

Wedge Antilles hurriedly, yet cautiously, enters the remote gambling den. Scanning the dimly lit room of ruffians and scoundrels, he spies his target playing sabacc.
    “Lando Calrissian. I've been searching the entire galaxy for you. Speaking of which, you're no longer welcomed at The Outlander Club or Canto Bight.”
    “Didn't want to be found, Wedge. What's the amount of the bounty that I have to pay off this time?” Lando sedately asks, concentrating on his cards. Tossing chips into the center of the table, he nimbly raises the bet.
    “You heard about the distress call from Leia and the Resistance?” Wedge replies, stress evident in his voice as he warily eyeballs the other shady patrons.
    The former General offers no reply, maintaining attention on his anxious opponent as they contemplate either matching the wager or conceding.
    “Well, what are we going to do about it?” Wedge further inquires, visibly frustrated. “Hear that Nien Nunb is with them.”
    His opponent having confidently pushed all their chips into the pot, Lando lays down a winning pure sabacc. He looks over at Wedge.
    “Let's buckle up, baby!”

[CUE STAR WARS THEME!!!]

 

©2018 Steve Sagarra

Determined Cause, and End of Dominion

What is happening at the southern border of the United States is not a holocaust and/or genocide. Citizens - mind you, legal citizens - are not being rounded up into concentration camps or ghettos to be used as forced labor aiding war efforts, grotesquely experimented upon for horrific purposes beyond scientific and/or outright executed for the simple reason of existing over notions of cultural and racial superiority. Meanwhile, other citizens are not turning a blind eye - either intentionally or naively - to the situation under the false belief that their government would never do such heinous things. With the current situation, there is a public awareness and presence that otherwise would not be if it were a case of bureaucratic deception and state-sanctioned extermination. The reason for this is that we no longer live in an era of unquestionable loyalty to government or its actions, or even beholden solely to mainstream media coverage. Thus, activists, citizens and politicians alike are openly involved in advocating and offering solutions that, under different circumstances, would place them equally in harm’s way of any totalitarian state that deems them a threat.

Separating Families At The Border: The Hysteria Overlooks Some Key Facts (Investor's Business Daily)

The Truth about Separating Kids (National Review)

In reality, a sovereign nation endeavors to enforce its laws and maintain the integrity of its borders against undocumented illegals who neither adhere to nor respect any of these conditions. They are not citizens, either by birth or lawful naturalization completed by millions of legal immigrants - like my Cuban-born grandfather and Irish-born great-grandparents, members of two immigrant nationalities that routinely faced discrimination yet persevered to achieve citizenship under established regulations. They, like multitudes of others, went through the arduous yet requisite process to become naturalized citizens rather than circumvent the system. These measures are not meant to dissuade or hinder any immigrants from being welcomed into and embraced by the country, but to serve only as the means for honoring and recognizing the requirements of citizenship. Even in a world bent on and consumed by globalization, this is not a hard concept to understand nor an idea archaic in its application.

There is the understood truth, as Benjamin Franklin eloquently opined, that liberty sacrificed at the expense of security potentially endangers the longevity of both. Nevertheless, we also should heed the words of the late John Ireland (1838-1918), archbishop of St. Paul, Minnesota, addressing American citizenship: “Law is order in liberty, and without order liberty is social chaos. The highest test of a people's fitness for free institutions is their willingness to obey law.” As for current global holocaust and/or genocide, I refer you to five prime examples that should demand and elicit more immediate action and outrage: Congo, Darfur, North Korea, Somalia, Syria. You also might study other historical incidents for context - Armenia, Bosnia, Cambodia, Rwanda, Sudan. Leave history to the historians, and the “fake news” propaganda and rhetoric on the ash heap of it - or it not only will be the United States, but all societies governed by the rule of law, burning in the destructive lawless chaos of their own creation.

©2018 Steve Sagarra

Of Presuming Believers, and Skeptical Dissent

In light of recent high-profile tragic deaths, I have listened to and read numerous hot takes about the supposed lack of God in the lives of people who commit suicide. While, even as an unrepentant agnostic, I value the freedom of religious expression guaranteed by the Constitution, I could not disagree more. Depression, mental illness or any other diagnosis one cares to ascribe to possible causes of suicide, faith in a higher power earnestly has little to no domain in the matter. Certainly, no benevolent deity would selfishly command absolute worship at their altar and abandon someone at the time of sincere need because of any purported deficiency on their part to do so. To be even more candid, God, if reasonably existent at all, should not, and conceivably does not, vaingloriously anguish over whether belief in Him prevails among his creations, as much as He is contented to humbly believe in them.

Granted, many attribute all of this to God’s will in the grand scheme as a testament to those who seek Him. Fine, perhaps that is true; my agnosticism (or heathenism, as some may interpret it) allows such an interpretation. But is there a manifestation of God in that last desperate, evidently hopeless moment? A preeminent understanding of Him presented at that moment? In my opinion, God undoubtedly either is or is not present - any lack thereof in the person's life not withstanding. This is not meant to dismiss, disregard or disparage religion as an explanation for the circumstances. Yet, we should not do the same when it comes to psychological, social or other plausible explanations - with the caveat that sometimes there are none to discover - in favor of the former. We do a disservice not only to society by doing so, but especially to those persons inwardly suffering from depression, mental illness or any other diagnosis, while they simultaneously battle any stigma attached to it, that goes beyond an existential scope.

Individual free will, manifested by a moment of clarity and the expression of it therein, always will supersede any external forces’ avowed transcendent providence over our actions, meant to justify nothing less than dogmatic coercion. While the latter may appear to lessen the burdens on our soul, it misguidedly lays responsibility elsewhere beyond our own conflicted psyche and personal situation. As Doyle’s Holmes proclaimed, “once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth.” In this context, we have yet to fully eliminate, let alone understand, the impossible that would allow the improbable, because sometimes the impossible is not easily packaged into a generalized narrative that demands specific answers to satiate the inherent need for closure.

In the end, there is no rationality for judgmental speculation concerning whether living a life with or without faith plays a role. Compassion and understanding for a life lost should be the lone priority, and to the accompanying grieving of those affected by it. A spiritual path may be the calling for many in this world toward the next, but there is no mandate for it to be the sole way to attain purpose for the few or the one. A meaningful life simply is a life lived, and a life lived simply is a meaningful one.

©2018 Steve Sagarra

Student Loan Industrial Complex

Expecting a federal tax refund? If the United States government erroneously believes you owe a federal debt - particularly, on a federal student loan - do not count on receiving it. In 2009, the U.S. Department of Education controversially chose the private student loan company Sallie Mae, originally established as a government entity in 1973, to exclusively service federal student loans on its behalf. In 2014, Sallie Mae, switching to consumer banking operations, spun off its student loan unit as Navient Corporation. In the three year period following that split, Navient faced numerous complaints, investigations and lawsuits - several of which resulted in monetary settlements to victims - for fraudulent accounting practices and violating consumer protection laws. Among these allegations included charging excessive interest rates to military members. Last year, they were sued for violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act and Fair Debt Collection Act.

States Defy Federal Government With Laws Aiming to Help Students (Student Loan Hero)

Why Would the Government Stop States From Helping Student Borrowers? (The Atlantic)

To that last point, Navient egregiously continues to use outdated, and outright false, documents from its parent company, Sallie Mae, to collect on allegedly defaulted student loans. If such attempts fail, the alleged outstanding loan is kicked back to the Department of Education, who then uses its governmental mandate to pursue the supposed debt. These measures include absconding with tax refunds, which the Internal Revenue Service is obligated to hand over under federal law for any outstanding federal debts - whether it exist or not. Established by the very creditors and lenders from whom consumers would seek relief, the three credit monitoring services - Equifax, Experian, TransUnion - in what should surprise no one, are no help in the matter. Using questionable documentation provided by these same creditors and lenders, whether legitimate or otherwise, they simply, more often than not, claim the legitimacy of the disputed account after concluding their bogus “investigation.” Thus, the economic servitude of imperiled consumers is maintained, with little other recourse to rectify the situation.

I know this because I am a target of this government-sanctioned scam. By the end of 2005, I repaid my undergraduate and graduate student loan to Sallie Mae. A decade later, I began receiving letters from Navient concerning that previously settled student loan. At the same time, a student loan account naming them as the lender and, afterward, the Department of Education appeared on my credit reports; as often eventually happens to older accounts, my Sallie Mae one had since disappeared. Until this time, I never had heard of Navient and, certainly, had never conducted or solicited any business with them. Admittedly, and unfortunately, I no longer have any Sallie Mae paperwork - including a congratulatory letter for paying off my student loan, speculatively an accidental casualty of a spring cleaning purge several years ago. Even more, the bank I was with at the time is no longer in business due to several mergers and the 2008 financial crisis. And because of this circumstance, the I.R.S. paid my anticipated, albeit minuscule, tax refund to the Department of Education - despite the latter never sending any notice of intention to collect this alleged debt by such means, which is a violation of federal law.

Anyone who has paid attention to education news the last few years is aware of not only the financial but also moral bankruptcy of the federal student loan program. While it is far past time to reexamine and overhaul, and quite frankly dismantle, the credit monitoring services - particularly in light of recent breaches to consumers' personal information - there is absolute urgency concerning the student loan industrial complex, and the various unscrupulous associated entities and agencies involved in it, that only grows worse each day for borrowers.

©2018 Steve Sagarra

Irish Butterfly Effect

May the wings of the butterfly kiss the sun,

And find your shoulder to light on,

To bring you luck, happiness and riches,

Today, tomorrow and beyond.

-Irish blessing

When I was in elementary school - 5th grade art class, if memory serves - I created the painting shown in the above photo. Aside perhaps from any refrigerator art, it is the only true artistic piece I have ever painted in my life. Although never giving an official title, I have dubbed it over the years as, “Irish Butterfly Effect.” At various points of its existence, I have been indifferent toward it, shown contempt for it, and, eventually, fully appreciative and embracing of it. Again if I recall correctly, the green/orange color scheme was a random choice in honor of my Irish heritage…yet quite oblivious at the time of the historical association, and significance, of blue with Ireland! Moreover, I likewise did not know in my youth, and only until more recently, the importance of the butterfly in Irish (and Celtic) culture, history, and mythology.

Thus, I extend to you the blessing above, and defer to the links below.

Dealan-Dé: The Butterfly in Irish Mythology

The Wooing of Etain: An Irish Tale of Love, Loss, and Jealousy

©2018 Steve Sagarra

Kirk Exposed, Starfleet Complicit

BREAKING NEWS: Captain James T. Kirk’s assertion that he received commendation for “original thinking” while attending Starfleet Academy is under renewed scrutiny. Reprimanded and facing expulsion, Kirk, who until only recently held the rank of admiral, is alleged to have exploited, and possibly acted in unison with as a member of, a false-flag incident in an attempt to expunge his record of academic cheating and disobedience as a cadet at the academy. Not wishing to face backlash in the aftermath of his supposed “heroics,” anonymous sources state that Kirk’s immediate superiors covered-up and falsified documentation on his behalf. Further, the same sources claim that on several occasions throughout his storied career, Kirk has collaborated, colluded and copulated with known foreign agents of numerous alien species.

Captain James T. Kirk, in an undated photo file courtesy of Starfleet Command

Allegations also have surfaced that Kirk used blackmail against a superior on at least one, possibly two, occasions while serving as an active-duty admiral, in order to yet again assume and secure a starship command. No witnesses have come forward to corroborate these accusations, and any attempts to reach the alleged victims have been futile. A former transporter chief, who wishes to remain anonymous because they are not authorized to comment on the matter, says that one such potential witness perished in a suspicious transporter accident prior to the dubious, and still classified, V’ger crisis. During that incident, Captain Will Decker, son of the late famed Commodore Matt Decker, and newly assigned navigator Lieutenant Ilia were declared missing in action under mysterious circumstances. Another transporter officer states, in a separate encounter, that a member of Kirk’s crew harassed and threatened him before the theft, and subsequent destruction, of the USS Enterprise.

As to the latter incident, previous investigations have uncovered numerous ill-advised decisions on the part of Kirk and his crew that allowed sensitive material to fall into the hands of and be used by enemy forces. The Klingon High Council repeatedly has denied involvement in any such operations, including charges of espionage and treaty violations. The material in question centered on the controversial Project Genesis, a shadowy bioengineering research project headed by none other than one of Kirk’s several former lovers, Dr. Carol Marcus, and their late son, David. Others involved in this operation allegedly included the dangerously fearsome 20th century ruler and tyrant, Khan Noonien Singh, whose life Kirk once spared despite his merciless seizure of the Enterprise on a previous mission. Further, there even is speculation that Singh inauspiciously, if not inexplicably, played a role in the aforementioned earlier false-flag incident; however, that cannot be confirmed at this time.

Request for comment from Kirk, members of his crew, Starfleet Command and the Vulcan embassy have gone unanswered. A statement from Ambassador Sarek’s press secretary, transmitted via Federation channels, did state it seemed logical for Kirk’s reinstatement to command of a starship. 

©2018 Steve Sagarra

Don't Give Evil Your Knee-Jerk Sanction

Gun control? Mental health? I do not know the solution or if there even is a comprehensive one - gun bans and mental health care can do only so much. Clearly, there is an underlying, and overlooked, societal issue(s) driving the uptick in mass shootings over the past few decades. This is especially concerning with teenage perpetrators. Unfortunately, this trend will not stop until it is properly addressed. But sometimes, evil simply just exists.

New Gun Policies Won’t Stop Mass Shootings, but People Can (National Review)

None of These Popular Gun Control Proposals Would Have Prevented the Parkland Shooting (Reason)

The Existing System is Broken: How Government Failures Helped Enable Four Recent Mass Shootings (Townhall) 

Whenever a mass shooting occurs, anti-gun activists and pundits turn to the same retreaded rhetoric that only ever addresses the means - the weapon used - rather than the root cause - the person who used it. Ostensibly, at the core, adult and teenage perpetrators alike increasingly are not all right - emotionally, mentally and/or socially. Why? Answer that question, find actionable solution(s) and, hopefully, lessen the violence.

An alcoholic or drug abuser does not stop being such just because a bottle or drug is taken away or access is restricted. In those instances, the root cause for the behavior must be addressed in order to stop the abuse. This is the very basis of and mandate for counseling, rehabilitation, etc. The same logic applies to perpetrators of violence. Address the root cause for it, and, hopefully, stop the violent behavior.

Or, maybe some people are just evil. In that instance, there is only one way to confront it - and it does not involve banning guns from the lawful and stable citizen who might do so. 

©2018 Steve Sagarra