Yes, Virginia, there is a presidential election in 1984—and it has begun: A former Vice President goes ice fishing and poses with a puny perch dangling from his line. A 68-year-old Senator dons athletic shorts and runs a 60-yd. dash in a San Francisco track meet. […] Such hijinks can mean only one thing: the quadrennial silly season has started again.

A route of people there aſſembled were, / Of euery ſort and nation vnder skye, …

The great Himalayan chain which forms the southern boundary of its land of origin, is intercepted on the south-east confines of Tibet by a transverse mountain system, originating with the Yunling and allied ranges, and also forming the ultra-Indian peninsulas, by which the Hoangho is forced far north, and ultimately finds its way into the Gulf of Pecheli.

At this point the real becomes necessary. So while Descartes does utilize the free-will explanation in his theodicy, two additional ingredients are observable: (1) the possibility of contradiction due to superomnipotence, or the divine possession of power which can contradict without self-defeat, generates a course in which the problem of evil becomes a non sequitur, and (2) his concept of contingency which offers a teleological explanation for the presence of evil. It should be noted in this context that in addition to these specific theodical elements, Descartes also provides an intersection of philosophy and theology, as his theodicy is distinctly philosophical.