Covered With The Blood

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Consider this a cartheritic post.

My Facebook feed started with a thread that highlighted pride at avoiding the covid vaccine1. In the comments was a reply to the effect that God had told this family not to get a vaccine and that the blood of Jesus would protect them.

This is one of a handful of things that makes me wonder if my faith is nuts: if people are this crazy, am I this crazy?

I could tell the joke of Two Boats and a Helicopter, which is dated but aptly demonstrates my point, but today I’ll stick with a couple of other ideas.

There is an astounding dissonance on the right where Christian values require political power (i.e., human forces) to affect real-world change, but only God’s sovereignty is recognized in other areas. I.e., Covid and other vaccines.

Comments like the above 100% conflate the blood covering sin and salvation vs physical protection (if you really want to dig in then you need to pull out some olive oil and wine. Note I’m not advocating for this.) The blood is a sacrifice to cover sin. It is not a magical tool to prevent illness. (The closest exception is passover, where the Israelites used the blood of a lamb to mark their houses for the angel of God to not kill their firstborn, the last of the plagues in Exodus.)

Some final questions:

  1. Do you think this view allows Christians to their doors to stay safe?
  2. Do you think this view allows people to use guns themselves and their family?
  3. Does this logic advocate that there is no situation where a Christian ought to use some level of physical protection, instead of relying only on “the Blood of Jesus” for protection2.

Does this post matter at all? Well, it makes me feel better 😆. But it’s also important that the opposite view be expressed. People need to know its OK to trust medicine and other non-Christian factors (not un-Christian) in life, as least as a matter of pragmatics and common sense.

1. If you want to argue against the vaccine on scientific grounds there is room for that. Most (all?) of the vaccines are under emergency use authorizations because they haven’t been vetted by the normal process. Personally, I think the risk tradeoff is 100% worth it, but if you don’t I can understand.

2. There are people that advocate this, including handling snakes and drinking poison. At least the theology is consistent in this manner.

Beautiful Leaves in the Smokies. When to See Them, Where to Find Them. Fall of 2023

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I love fall in the Smokies. I absolutely love to hike them when I can during the fall.

It can be tricky. depending on the weather the leaves can be green one weekend, at their height by the next and mostly dead a few days later. Still, I’ve never gone wrong trying.

Animated map of when the leaves in the United States are projected to change
Animation by The Washington Post, original image from SmokyMountains.com

Each year SmokyMountains.com puts out their Fall Foliage Prediction Map — a national map — that estimates when leaves will be at their peak.

Of course it is an estimate, but I have yet to find anything else that is close.

If you love the fall and the outdoors, this is a wonderful map to look at today, to plan your perfect weekend this fall — Oct 2nd, 9th or 16th in the Smokies,

Also worth noting: the elevation change in the Smokies (3,000+ plus) means that at any time different elevations will be at different periods. There are easily three different levels where both the tree types and the leaves change. Generally, the further up you go the more coniferous (pine & fir-like) there are, which makes the heights great places to view, but often less colorful themselves.

Some Great Smokies Viewpoints

This isn’t regurgitated guide books, this is all from my own explorations!

Drive to Newfound Gap — you can drive here, no hiking required. It gives a broad view of the middle Eastview of the Smokies.

Drive or Hike to Clingmans Dome — you can drive all the way there and either look out over the Southern part of the Smokies, or hike up to the viewing tower (0.6 miles, steep but paved) and get a 360′ view.) You literally can’t go wrong.

Hike Alum Trail towards Mount LeConte — The first 2-3 miles of this hike offers excellent views. As you approach the peak there are more amazing views, but you need to prepare to hike higher. Be ready for crowds: this is the most popular trail to Mount LeConte, if you can, go during a weekday to find parking, or park at Newfound Gap and find a way to get down to the trailhead (don’t plan on hiking down.)

Hike Mount Cammerer — This is a long and difficult hike. Somewhere around 10 miles out and back. The reward is a 270′ view from an old firetower, of the mountains, mostly outside of the Smokies. I never think of it as my favorite, but I also can never pull myself away after I’m there.

Drive Cades Cove — the 11 mile loop on the West side of the park, you can get out and hike short trails (0.5 miles +/-) or stay in the car. It’s worthwhile by itself, but during the fall will be amazing.

Drive Little River Gorge Road and 441 — this will take you from Townsend on the Northwest side of the Smokies to the South side of the Smokies and back. Elevation from 1300′ to 5000’+ means you’ll see the lowest point to the highest point.

The drive along the Little River never disappoints. There are multiple short trails you can take at pull-offs, along with viewing areas all along Newfound Gap. Expect this to take the entire day over weekends, pack a lunch and something to drink. (Bathrooms at Metcalf Bottoms, the Gatlinburg Visitors Center, and Newfound Gap).

Drive the Parkway — Two sections of road outside of the main park, East and West of Gatlinburg, each offers pull-offs with amazing views of the mountains.

Drive Greenbrier Road — I’ve only been here once, and during the winter. It’s main advantage is you can drive along it, making it very accessible.

Dozens of easy trails exist throughout the park. The Cosby Campground is full of them, Little River Road has multiple pull-offs with short trails that typically have adequate parking, the Cades Cove campground has accessible trails that can go as short or as long as you’d like, Middle Prong Trailhead near the Tremont Visitors Center also allows you an easy hike along a creek, and there are drivable areas in the East side of the park that I have barely explored.

Photos

Edited to show t the Smoky Mountains at their finest.

Creek crossing on hike to Alum Bluffs in the Great Smoky Mountains. iPhone 12 mini
Carsten, Katie & Elyonah Addington walk a path in the Cosby Campground during the fall in the Great Smoky Mountains. Nikon d5600
Path to Laurel Falls during the fall in the Great Smoky Mountains. Minolta DiMage
View from the hike to Alum Bluffs in the Great Smoky Mountains. iPhone 12 Mini
Leaves during the fall in the Great Smoky Mountains. Minolta Dimage
View from Alum Bluffs during the fall in the Great Smoky Mountains. Nikon d5600
Leaves during the fall in the Great Smoky Mountains. Nikon d5600
Pull off on Clingman’s Dome Road in the Great Smoky Mountains during the fall. No hiking required. iPhone 12 Mini
Creek at the Cosby Campground during the fall in the Great Smoky Mountains. Nikon d5600
Pull off near Newfound Gap in the Great Smoky Mountains, no hiking required. Nikon d5600

Live Views

Want to know before you go? I’d always recommend asking your friends on Facebook first, but there are also webcams that will give you a pretty good idea of the colors.

Skypark Live Web Cam
Newfound Gap — you may need to visit this page to ensure you have the latest image.

MGM Taken Down, Caesers Paid Up

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MGM was completely taken offline this week. Multiple casinos and hotels down, slot machines unable to pay out. It’s one of the biggest cybersecurity messes that has been made public (they can’t hide it!)

Caesers reportedly was in a similar spot, but they paid up instead.

It seems like most people don’t take us cybersecurity pros seriously when we say this can happen. I don’t know how much MGM would have had to pay but:

  • Their operational losses this week will be through the roof
  • The costs to investigate and repair will be incredible
  • The lost revenue between hotel cancellations — which are forced to offer for free — and lost gambling revenue must be huge
  • The reputational losses will be long-lasting. How many MGM customers will stay at Caesars going forward just to avoid the potential hassle of working with MGM?

Of course, for MGM this on $13bn of annual revenue, so would this matter to a smaller business?

Yes. Small businesses will typically have a higher ransom or recovery cost as a proportion of revenue.

The ultimate gamble is, is it less costly to go through a cybersecurity incident or defend against one? And if the incident is less costly, is it still worth it?

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