Lovecraft's Flaw

I am a writer, so words fascinate me. Their meanings, their sound, the way they are strung together. At times in history, there have been writers who transcend mediocrity and bring us their brilliance. Writers such as: Paul, Job, Jastrow, Shelley, King, Tolkien, Lewis. But there was another, a literary phenom in his own right, a man who dwelled in poverty but whose black light shone brightly.
H.P. Lovecraft.
Madness fell from his mind and onto the page. He saw things no one else saw. What his dialogue lacked in substance, his prose made up for in sheer power. But one thing the great H.P. Lovecraft could not do was:
Spell.
I mean, good God man, what was wrong with him? I think he took Scrabble pieces, threw them into the air, and let them fall. Whatever words they formed on the ground, those became the names of his characters. Let's take a look.

Nyarlathotep. Was he trying to say Im-Ho-Tep and got lost? C'mon, man. Next.

Yog-Sothoth. Huh? Yogi's socks are off?

Cthulu. Bless you. Sounds like a tongue-less man saying 'Cool Hand Luke'.

And lastly, be careful with this one, Shub-Niggurath. If you put the accent on 'gur', you will be okay.
This phenomenon of tossing letters into the air did not end with Lovecraft. His friend Clark Ashton Smith did the same. Tsathoggua, for example. What the hell is a Tsathoggua anyway? And this one is from the left over cubes of Boggle: Baoht Z'uqqa-Mogg.
Yikes.
Lovecraft was a genius, but he had a flaw. No one is perfect, but this was reprehensible. No one knows what I'm talking about when I say Ghatanothoa! Blast you, Lovecraft, and your Wgah'nagl!

Is God A Bloodthirsty Monster?

Is the God of the Old Testament a bloodthirsty monster? A vindictive tyrant? This is a question some people have. How can a loving, benevolent God order the extermination of a race of people? Well, if He is indeed loving, perhaps there was a reason he destroyed that society. . .
The society I speak of were known as the Canaanites, which were several tribes living in the area of Canaan. These were the people living in the Holy Land before the Jews invaded. God had promised this land to Abraham's descendants, and after they left Egypt, it was time for them to move in. The 400 years that they were in Egypt was time enough for the Canaanites to repent, but they did not.

So as judgment, God ordered His people to overthrow the people of the land one city at a time. Most of the time, they were to leave no survivors. Not even livestock. The city and all its inhabitants were to be annihilated, along with, at times, the possessions. But why? Isn't God nice?
Who said God was nice?
Kind, patient, merciful, but I wouldn't say nice. He does come to a point where He must pour out his wrath. He is no pushover, folks.

In the Book of Leviticus there are a list of laws and prohibitions, such as:
1) Don't boil a baby goat in it's mother's milk
2) Don't lay with an animal like you would a person
3) Don't worship idols
4) Don't have relations with a close relative
5) Do not sacrifice your children
This is a short list, but you get the point. Why on earth would God put this in the Bible? Wouldn't the Jews have common sense about this? Who would boil a goat in it's own mother's milk or lay with their mother or sister or sacrifice their own child on the white-hot arms of a stone idol?
The Canaanites, that's who.
These nations had given themselves over to their wickedness. If a nation condones child sacrifice, they're toast. Their time is up. They were sexually perverse to the utmost, and it was offensive to Heaven. God told Israel not to be like the Canaanites, and He spelled it out for them in Leviticus. Why? He knew they would be tempted to do what they did! (Which did happen later.) So He made it idiot-proof for them. Some of those laws seem stupid to us, but He really did not want his people to be anything like the Canaanites. They were that bad.

Thus, they were destroyed. Men, women, children, and animals had become so corrupt that God wiped them out. He does get angry, you see. So no, He is not bloodthirsty. He would rather save than destroy.
But he doesn't have to.

Giant Dead People in Our Backyards

Giants are a fascinating subject. Who isn't all agog when a seven-footer steps foot on screen and delivers a thunderous blow to his opponent? Or makes a shot? Or tosses someone around? Who isn't astounded when they bump into a real seven-plus foot man at the store? I think we all are. But what about an 8-foot man? Or nine? Or twelve?
Who cares? you say. They don't exist. Ah, but they did. And not just in the pages of the Bible or mythology. In ancient America, it seems, were races of giant-folk. Before the Indians arrived were a race of giants, who may have been the builders of the huge mounds found in North and South America.
Never heard of that? People tend to believe that America was found discovered in 1492 and that no one else was here before that. Except for those Natives, but they were dirty savages so forget about them.
That was sarcasm, people.
Skeletons of some serious size have been unearthed here in America, and often buried with weapons and other paraphernalia, sometimes with hieroglyph-type writing on them. They worked in copper, which is something the Indians did not do. Something curious was going on way back then. . .
Typically, this falls into the realm of paranormal. Or worse, biblical weird-ism. But an eight-foot skeleton is an eight-foot skeleton! Hold on, I feel an image coming on:

Bam! Check out that feller. He's not an isolated case either. They are all over the place. Stories from all over the globe speak about giants. Indeed, why do almost all the cultures of the world have flood stories and giant stories? Did they all read the same book? Maybe they did. Or they took the same story from the same place and when they dispersed, the story went with them.
However, these big dead people are not fossils from a flood. They are skeletons from not too long ago, relatively. As in, people have had encounters with them. Now maybe it's all fake, just some silly stories told by bored, fantasy prone introverts. That does happen. Or maybe angels left their own abode, mated with human women, produced giant freaks, and polluted the gene pool. Go read the Book of Enoch for fun. It's wild.

Here is a great Gustave Dore woodcut of David's victory over Goliath. What a great artist he was. Now if you are up to it, read this blog about giants. There is a ton of info there. Then try this one too and read about giants with double sets of teeth and six fingers. It would seem The Smithsonian doesn't want us to know about this stuff. Or, perhaps, it is all phony and some of us are simply strange.
Here is one last thought. Why are there giant counterparts to today's animals? Giant crocodiles, giant snakes, sharks, rhinos, elephants, and also humans. What was going on back then? A greenhouse effect? Genetic manipulation by an advanced race? Pym particles?
Sorry, old comic book reference.
I leave you with an old picture for no other reason than it looks cool. These guys are kind of scary, aren't they?