Frequently, I’ve read that Stephen Hawking invited time travelers to attend his birthday party. He would invite them after his birthday.

The first time I read about his invite I thought about how that might play out. If several strangers dressed weirdly knocked on his door the day before his birthday would they be welcomed? Would he really be inclined to accept them as travelers? Or would they get turned away?

Well, I thought, one could walk the streets of any city and find people dressed as anything. So how travelers dressed might prove meaningless.

Since I don’t think time travel tourism would be allowed since removing one artifact from the past might cancel out a segment of the future that needed to exist, only a trained professional would venture back in time.

What specifically did Stephen Hawking believe he had to offer them to make the likely expensive and time consuming visit to his birthday party? I’m thinking he had nothing to offer. It humanity reaches a point when we can time travel, well think about the scientific knowledge that will require. What Stephen Hawking knew was insufficient to create a basis for the science of time travel.

We still cannot prove that dark energy and dark matter truly exists. Since in reality time only exists for humans perhaps we’ve overlooked the need to think as if all time really does exist at the same time. And perhaps dark matter or dark energy is the key to unlocking a way to move through time. Since the theory of dark matter is that it’s everywhere that there is no matter, well…So again why would a person who could travel through time attend Stephen’s birthday party?

Or did they?

Writers hear that question and some attempt to answer. Occasionally ideas are found in the day’s headlines. More often, I believe ideas for stories or articles are found in our opinions of headlines or in reaction to the opinions of other people.

One must admit that each of us have opinions that range from critically intellectual to down and dirty verbal diarrhea. Knowing that we can create characters accordingly.

We also understand, or we should understand that emotions carve deep crevices. Some are painful scars while others are joyously uplifting.

All of us, whether we know it or not, are searching life for answers to questions we may or may not know.

To help us do this we connect with people and things.As we move through time we build a foundation of memories that we live on. Without memories nothing would make sense. And yes sometimes memories confuse too.

If you want an idea for a story try thinking about what matters to you at the moment. Use that thought to build characters that will pull the idea like taffy. As it expands add physical surroundings.

At first try creating like it’s an outline without being as shallow as an outline tends to be. Now you’re creating a story.

No form of government except a democracy allows the activities now occurring in the United States of America to flourish. The concept of democracy includes permitting citizens the necessary rights to bring about change when change is needed. Since its creation, American democracy has writhed and twisted, bent and adjusted, to become a more just and compassionate society.

There is nothing that Americans united can’t do to improve their country. It’s when people in power believe they can disrupt that unity that the country trembles under the onslaught. However, even then, as in the past, Americans stand up and cause the change needed.

Currently, America is controlled but the Republican Party, which over the previous few decades slipped into an organization owned by corporate America and the religious right. Those in charge now are gathering as much personal wealth and power as possible and as quickly as possible. Many Americans saw this coming but none truly believed it could or would get so bad so fast.

Americans can and must thank social media for the quagmire of 2017 and today. While eager users seek clicks, likes, and followers, they transform into tiny blue birds or some meme that collects attention. These internet nannies serve little purpose for the greater good. But they do feed into the messages corporations promote.

So when social media bloggers begin telling the world that every government, country, etc. has its time and maybe Americans should accept that their time as a world leader is over, that it’s run its course, that democracy has failed, they feed their utter lack of historical knowledge into mainstream fear. What they actually inform us that they do not understand the principles of democracy. Nor the history of democracy.

Want proof that democracy is the best form of government? Become a Russian citizen and try doing what Americans are now doing. Become a citizen of China and give it a whirl. Changing society does not happen there. Ever.

In America citizens have recreated their country again and again. Sometimes at great cost to human life. But each time the country came through better and stronger despite what the whiners of those times declared. And this time, once the majority of Americans stand up and state loudly that enough is enough, it will happen again. Let’s just hope social media darlings, and whining nannies are muffled by logic and compassion, by the unity of Americans who will again show the world why so many people from everywhere wanted to become American since the country’s creation.

Quite possibly the word ‘opinion’ unbalances truth on the scale of justice with more weight on the side of nonsense. Each member of this court bears opinion as if it’s the word of god. Each seems to believe what they’ve formulated as truth whether it’s actual, or factual truth, invoked during the personal decision making process should not be opened for debate. That, I believe is problematic in itself. Hence the abyss of social media.

Once a few lifetimes ago, the court of public opinion formed and happened when a group of locals gathered to discuss important topics that affected all in the community. They gathered in a tavern, pub, church, or even the corner store. Imagine face to face conversation and debate. All people within arms length. When concluded they honestly knew each other a bit better and had an consensus of majority that held.

Here in 21st century earth, gathering all those discussing the important and not ideas battered and tossed around the ocean of social media would cause more blood shed than consensual agreement. And majority? That might be more like tides of fluctuation. Majority one minute and not the next.

It seems even finding a concrete starting point of agreement from which ideas might be built for mutual satisfaction is unlikely. Which begs the question is mutual satisfaction a conclusion any of those involved in the discussion or argument searching to find? Perhaps not. And it not than the reason for the argument has little to do with the topic and a lot to do with individuality of opinion. How does one assemble a majority, and really what would the majority do with its gain?

Those on the sidelines have witnessed the activities of social media tear down good and bad men and women. They watched the most powerful among us use the currents roiling social media to twist and vilify truth and not pay the price earned by their words and actions. Yet in the court of public opinion success, it seems, is rated by the fallen only.

Those unable or unwilling to stand up and defend themselves against the onslaught. While the court of public opinion ignores either fearfully or believing some men and women are untouchable those that need to be seriously held accountable.

Let’s not ignore Donald Trump, Paul Ryan, Mitch McConnell, and their compatriots as they gleefully shred values of decency and the purpose of democracy itself so they may become richer and more powerful. It’s time we hold them accountable. But is that possible for the social media court of public opinion? Time runs quickly.

Honestly, I’m not certain that truth fits in any government. The role of governing people requires, it seems, the need to fabricate fact into fiction and back to fact so that those who are governed feel a peace of mind that does not challenge their preconceived notions of right and wrong.

People live in a self-created reality.

If government behaves in a manner that violates those individual realities then the governed may become ungovernable. Here lies yet a truth within a truth. The government needs do little to reverse the problem of governability gone amiss. They can used repeated fabrications often enough to weave them into a warm cozy wrap of falsehood that smells and tastes like truth. As long as what is then created locks comfortably into a large number of personal realities it succeeds.

Donald Trump, the wannabe something more than the nothing he knows he truly is, has mastered the art of fabrication to save himself from the condemnation he inflicts upon himself by simply climbing out of bed at 3am and tapping desperately on his well-worn cellphone to save himself from himself. The literal truth is that Donald Trump has never experienced a literal truth since he was born.

Now Trump fear is inflicted on as many people as he can attract to his meaninglessness. Certainly he has the power to self destruct and destroy us all, but the man would rather not fearing he will be forgotten by time and history if he ends it all.

Someone who puts self above life cannot destroy life without destroying self too.