tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-78179718656844340082024-03-13T10:49:29.351-07:00God and Gulags"Between us heaven or hell there is only life . . the frailest thing in the world."edwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03214185482347071551noreply@blogger.comBlogger133125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7817971865684434008.post-76610112399235633362013-09-07T19:38:00.003-07:002013-09-07T19:55:50.729-07:00The "gulag" of the soulPerhaps the greatest sermon ever uttered and/or written of all time and my farewell to the few readers of this blog, but (hopefully) not all writing (communing) on the web or generally.<br />
<br />
But who really knows?<br />
<br />
<div class="heading passage-class-0">
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">The Bible (</span></span><span style="font-size: small;">King James Version)</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Matthew 5:1-12</span></span></div>
<div class="txt-sm">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /> </span></div>
<div class="txt-sm">
</div>
</div>
<div class="passage version-KJV result-text-style-normal text-html ">
<span class="text Matt-5-1" id="en-KJV-23236"><span class="chapternum"></span></span><br />
<div class="chapter-1" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="text Matt-5-1" id="en-KJV-23236"><span class="chapternum">1 </span>And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, </span></div>
<div class="chapter-1" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="text Matt-5-1" id="en-KJV-23236">his disciples came unto him:</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="text Matt-5-2" id="en-KJV-23237"><sup class="versenum">2 </sup>And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying,</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="text Matt-5-3" id="en-KJV-23238"><sup class="versenum">3 </sup>Blessed are the poor in spirit:</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="text Matt-5-3" id="en-KJV-23238"> for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="text Matt-5-4" id="en-KJV-23239"><sup class="versenum">4 </sup>Blessed are they that mourn:</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="text Matt-5-4" id="en-KJV-23239"> for they shall be comforted.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="text Matt-5-5" id="en-KJV-23240"><sup class="versenum">5 </sup>Blessed are the meek:</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="text Matt-5-5" id="en-KJV-23240"> for they shall inherit the earth.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="text Matt-5-6" id="en-KJV-23241"><sup class="versenum">6 </sup>Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness:</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="text Matt-5-6" id="en-KJV-23241"> for they shall be filled.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="text Matt-5-7" id="en-KJV-23242"><sup class="versenum">7 </sup>Blessed are the merciful:</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="text Matt-5-7" id="en-KJV-23242"> for they shall obtain mercy.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="text Matt-5-8" id="en-KJV-23243"><sup class="versenum">8 </sup>Blessed are the pure in heart:</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="text Matt-5-8" id="en-KJV-23243"> for they shall see God.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="text Matt-5-9" id="en-KJV-23244"><sup class="versenum">9 </sup>Blessed are the peacemakers:</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="text Matt-5-9" id="en-KJV-23244"> for they shall be called the children of God.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="text Matt-5-10" id="en-KJV-23245"><sup class="versenum">10 </sup>Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="text Matt-5-10" id="en-KJV-23245">for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="text Matt-5-11" id="en-KJV-23246"><sup class="versenum">11 </sup>Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="text Matt-5-11" id="en-KJV-23246">and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="text Matt-5-12" id="en-KJV-23247"><sup class="versenum">12 </sup>Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="text Matt-5-12" id="en-KJV-23247">for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.</span></div>
</div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
~God bless us all.edwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03214185482347071551noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7817971865684434008.post-54909779072937487532013-07-04T16:32:00.000-07:002013-07-27T03:45:24.878-07:00Post-revolutionary AmericaOn this day, it may be of interest to reflect upon certain elements that actually existed and ultimately led to the founding of the Republic, particularly after the fateful battle of Yorktown in October 1781.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b8/Surrender_of_Lord_Cornwallis.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="209" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b8/Surrender_of_Lord_Cornwallis.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">The Surrender of Lord Cornwallis (</span></b><b><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">by John
Trumbull)</span> </b></div>
<br />
<a href="http://www.numberof.net/number-of-british-soldiers-in-revolutionary-war/">1.</a> The British army took some time to take the American threat seriously enough and consequently was often outnumbered. At the outbreak of war in 1775, Great Britain had 8,580 troops stationed in America. By war's end in 1781, despite concurrent wars with its Dutch, French and Spanish neighbors and across its empire, 57,000 British troops were stationed in America and the West Indies.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_guerrilla_warfare">2.</a> The Patriots/Rebels did indeed adopt guerrilla tactics, but also often engaged with the enemy in the conventional manner.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hessian_(soldiers)">3</a>. The Hessians: Approximately 30,000 men hired out from some of the regular army units of Landgrave Frederick II of Hesse-Kassel (a principality in northern Hesse or Hessia in Germany) and other German leaders to Great Britain for use against the Patriots/Rebels not only influenced American sentiment, but also pushed some Loyalists to favor the revolution.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prisoners_in_the_American_Revolutionary_War">4</a>. The <i>unconditional</i> surrender of Cornwallis (insisted upon by General Washington) forced a new perspective and accord, in particular, on the treatment of prisoners of war with an uneasy stalemate existing until a formal ending of the war with the Treaty of Paris in 1783.<br />
<br />
<div align="CENTER">
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Paris_(1783)">10 Key Points of the Treaty of Paris</a></div>
<ol>
<li> Acknowledging the United States (the Colonies) to be
free, sovereign and independent states, and that the British
Crown and all heirs and successors relinquish claims to the
Government, property, and territorial rights of the same, and every
part thereof;<br />
</li>
<li> Establishing the boundaries between the United States
and British North America;<br />
</li>
<li> Granting fishing rights to United States fishermen in
the Grand Banks, off the coast of Newfoundland and in
the Gulf of Saint Lawrence;<br />
</li>
<li> Recognizing the lawful contracted debts to be paid to
creditors on either side;<br />
</li>
<li> The Congress of the Confederation will "earnestly
recommend" to state legislatures to recognize the rightful
owners of all confiscated lands "provide for the restitution of
all estates, rights, and properties, which have been confiscated
belonging to real British subjects [Loyalists]";<br />
</li>
<li> United States will prevent future confiscations of the
property of Loyalists;<br />
</li>
<li> Prisoners of war on both sides are to be released and
all property left by the British army in the United States
unmolested (including slaves);<br />
</li>
<li> Great Britain and the United States were each to be given
perpetual access to the Mississippi River;<br />
</li>
<li> Territories captured by Americans subsequent to treaty will
be returned without compensation;<br />
</li>
<li> Ratification of the treaty was to occur within six months
from the signing by the contracting parties.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/77/PreliminaryTreatyOfParisPainting.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="290" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/77/PreliminaryTreatyOfParisPainting.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 18.234375px;"><b><i>Signing the Preliminary Treaty of Peace at Paris, November 30, 1782.</i></b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 18.234375px;"><b><i>John Jay and Benjamin Franklin standing at the left.</i></b></span></span></div>
</li>
</ol>
<br />
<a href="http://www.uelac.org/Making-Loyalists/Making-the-Loyalists-perspective.php">6.</a> British Loyalists, often overlooked or undercalculated in American views of the history, were of mixed, but significant consequence. Historians generally report that after the Revolutionary War approximately 70,000 Loyalists emigrated, mostly to Canada, the West Indies and Britain. English-speaking Canadians today, particularly, consider the War of 1812 a great victory and defining moment, regaling in the once sizable immigrant Loyalist population.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">In the two centuries since the Loyalists' arrival [in Canada], the myths and realities of their heritage have intertwined to have a powerful influence on how we, as Canadians, see ourselves. Truly, the arrival of the United Empire Loyalists not only changed the Course [sic] of Canadian history by prompting the British government to establish the provinces of New Brunswick and Ontario, but i[t] also gave them special characteristics which can be seen today. Perhaps the most striking of these is the motto on the Ontario coat of arms: Ut incept sic permanet fidelis that is, "As she began, so she remains, Loyal".</span></div>
</blockquote>
---from <a href="http://www.uelac.org/PDF/loyalist.pdf">A Short History of the United Empire Loyalists by Ann Mackenzie M.A.</a><br />
<br />
Post-revolutionary American views of heritage remain just as mixed and mythical, despite several best efforts throughout the last two centuries. And whatever happened to "British Loyalists" who actually did stay in America post-revolution? I find that to be the unresolved question since so much focus and attention has been cast elsewhere.<br />
<br />
Nevertheless, an interesting perspective, exemplifying just how mixed (and mythical, too, perhaps) is found in a paper published not long after the "liberation" of the Baltic States in 1992:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Nevertheless, the United States survived. How did this happen? </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
First, America was fortunate in having as president after 1789 George Washington, a man who was trusted for his impartiality, integrity, and competence. Washington selected as his cabinet men of ability regardless of their political orientation. Trying to make Hamilton and Jefferson work together was a daily trial to him, but he kept the country together and used their talents for the common good. Washington did not escape criticism for this — he was vilified by the press for failing to follow the ideological line each editor preferred. But his pragmatic employment of men was wise. Washington valued proven ability. One of the important legacies of Washington and his time is that Americans tend to look at what a person can do, not what his past was. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Secondly, America had a philosophy of government which discounted ideology. Best described in <i>The Federalist Papers,</i> it said that good government had to be founded not on ideals or education, but on self-interest. Only when people saw their own interests affected by government would they act to protect it — or use it. This means that Americans habitually form combinations to pass laws for the benefits of groups. It may look corrupt and be condemned by those who lose out in the competition, but it results in stimulating those not benefited into political activity for their own protection. It also gets things done.</blockquote>
--from <a href="http://www.lituanus.org/1992_3/92_3_05.htm">Post Revolutionary Government in America and in the Baltic States by William Urban, MonmouthCollege</a><br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I do not agree with the limited view propounded on "self-interest" here in this piece from over 20 years ago, but it does prompt me to ask: What "things" are actually getting done today?<br />
<br />
Recurring themes and their underlying emotions seem to bubble to the surface as one attempts to see into the soul of the periods prior, during and (particularly here) directly following that historic British surrender.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
It might possibly even be observed that President Washington's faithful (and pragmatic) pursuit of <i>the common good</i> remains not only relevant today, but imperative.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
And to paraphrase the motto on the above noted Ontario, Canada (United Empire Loyalist) coat of arms, perhaps the enduring quality of the American revolution <i>is</i> really quite as simple and profound as:<br />
<br />
"As WE began, so LET US remain, Loyal."</div>
edwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03214185482347071551noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7817971865684434008.post-64312523254471793702013-04-10T22:20:00.001-07:002013-04-13T07:32:23.418-07:00The Alawites of Syria - Lessons?The Syrian sectarian war continues with no end in sight - over <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/12/world/meast/syria-death-toll">70,000 deaths</a> (in almost 2 years; so far).<br />
<br />
. . . a prayer for the departed and the suffering . . . <br />
<br />
Moved, writing here today, on an interesting, mostly unexamined aspect (possibly) at the root of the conflict found within the <i>religion</i> of the Al-Assad family itself.<br />
<br />
The <a href="http://www.alawites.org/">Alawites</a> exist as an offshoot of <i>Shia Islam</i> - "the <a href="https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/">largest schismatic sect in Islam</a>, accounting for approximately 10-20% of the world's normative body of Islam." [And in Syria they have represented as much as 12% of the violently decreasing population.]<br />
<br />
In other words, religiously, they are an offshoot of an offshoot; and currently find themselves fighting (not only for their lives, but) against members of the <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Islam" title="Demographics of Islam">largest</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_schools_and_branches" title="Islamic schools and branches">branch</a> of Islam itself, the Sunnis.<br />
<br />
A major difference or unique quality of this offshoot of an offshoot is a belief in the transmigration of souls (comments on that later).<br />
<br />
Also, of some import or interest, particularly for reactionary extremists (as well as the peaceful orthodox) among us all, Alawites do not observe <a href="http://www.saudiembassy.net/about/country-information/Islam/five_pillars_of_Islam.aspx">the five pillars of Islam.</a><br />
<br />
For that reason, particularly, they have been ostracized for most of their history, albeit, the fortunes of war and alliances and even compromises made over the years have kept the Ba'athists and (the Alawite) Al-Assad Family in power for over 40 years. The Assad policy might even [have been] seen as something of a mixture of both embracing minorities (including Christian and other) while maintaining a centrist, fairly absolutist (or socialist) base. <br />
<br />
Psychologically, one might easily view the intransigent and unapologetic Alawite President Bashar al-Assad (as even the Financial Times magazine (FT) <a href="http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/669da3aa-b5b5-11e1-ab92-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2Q7rWVMDS">noted last year</a>) as someone with a "split personality."<br />
<br />
The label does seem to fit.<br />
<br />
The rise and fall of Alawite power in Syria might also be viewed as a lesson on how a (primarily) religious minority sometimes rises to the top of a nation as well as the consequences of that (though surely, no one knows the final outcome at this time).<br />
<br />
So, in attempting to clarify the concept of the "transmigration of souls" (also termed Metempsychosis or Reincarnation), I begin with <a href="http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/transmigration_of_souls.aspx">a definition</a>:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>The Transmigration of Souls</i><br />
<br />
<i>A belief common to many cultures, in which the soul passes from one body to another, either human, animal, or inanimate. The Australian aborigines believe that an infant is a reincarnation of deceased ancestors and that the soul is continually reborn. Some Indonesian peoples hold that ancestral souls reside in sacred animals, sometimes in preparation for a new incarnation. Similarly, several tribes in western Amazonia avoid eating certain animals, such as deer, because they believe ancestral souls have entered the animals' bodies. Metempsychosis is a fundamental doctrine of several religions originating in India.</i></blockquote>
In my opinion such basic, core belief reflects a very <a href="http://primitivism.com/primitivism.htm">primitivist</a> and (ultimately) troubling view. Extremism has often shown itself fueled by manipulation of the poor and ignorant via mysticism, superstition or simply "poor teaching" over and over again, throughout the centuries.<br />
<br />
[Note, I did not refer here to religion itself or even Alawite religion as a whole.]<br />
<br />
And, in the case of Syrian Alawite power and posture, it appears to be most particularly the military, not the general population (though some paramilitary and/or self-defense groups apparently do exist) that continues to zealously defend the regime. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.npr.org/2013/04/08/176560587/a-close-up-of-syrias-alawites-loyalists-of-a-troubled-regime">NPR</a> broadcast parts of an interesting, still-in-process, documentary the other day on that, entitled, "A Close-Up Of Syria's Alawites, Loyalists Of A Troubled Regime." <br />
<br />
According to at least one resident of a besieged Alawite town, "the Syrian government is the only thing that will protect the Alawite minority." It is about survival. Also, there are indeed some who see their president as "almost [. .] a divine figure that will provide protection."<br />
<br />
A school filmed in a town shows zealous high school students - some expecting soon to be drafted to fight - chanting gleeful support for President Al-Assad. A mother vows personal revenge after her son is gravely injured during a bombing.<br />
<br />
<br />
There is blood. And there are tears and yelling.<br />
<br />
<br />
The war becomes real though you are fairly sure that you are viewing only one side of it; the losing side.<br />
<br />
<br />
But which side is that? <br />
Who is being manipulated ? <br />
And by whom?<br />
<br />
<br />
The filmaker (referred to only as Hassan) explains that "the regime is just using this sectarian promise of protection as a way to maintain its own power."<br />
<br />
<br />
The Alawites are now "trapped by fear — a fear that's allowed them to go from oppressed to oppressors." <br />
<br />
<br />
It is all so very strange and so very sad.<br />
<br />
***********************<br />
<br />
<br />
Parting questions:<br />
<br />
When does a ruling (or powerful) minority lose its moral authority? <br />
<br />
On the other hand, when or where might a rebel majority lose its own moral authority?<br />
<br />
[<a href="http://conman-currentmil-technews.blogspot.com/2013/04/al-qaeda-declares-stake-in-syrian.html">Possible Answer</a>]<br />
<br />
Is there a lesson here about religious freedom - and the abuse of power?<br />
<br />
And finally:<br />
<br />
When does God (or anyone) intervene?<br />
<br />
<br />
****************************<br />
<br />
<br />
Earlier Warning:<br />
<h1>
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/02/10/us-syria-crisis-patriarch-idUSBRE91909D20130210">Patriarch warns Syrians of reliving Lebanon's errors</a></span></h1>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />edwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03214185482347071551noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7817971865684434008.post-56199003134235382432012-12-31T00:06:00.001-08:002012-12-31T19:57:05.852-08:00Of myths and lemmings<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
After the apocalypse (<a href="http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/apocalypse">definition</a>: revelation) and/or cliff - what next? </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/death/">Fact:</a> Death (in <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+9:60&version=NIV">some form</a>) awaits us all.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lemming">Myth:</a> Lemmings fall out of the sky and/or commit mass suicide.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8a/LemmingCorpse.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8a/LemmingCorpse.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><span class="description">A lemming corpse</span></b></span></div>
<span class="description"></span></div>
<br />
Prognosis: Certain legends, folktales and myths continue to endure over the span of several human generations. [Sidebar: "<a href="http://www.surenews.com/culture/doctors-pressured-to-declare-patients-brain-dead-for-organs.htm">The patient is not dead, doctor!</a>"]<br />
<br />
Over and over again, the memory of lessons learned (albeit not always or often directly) wither away and human groupings, tribes, even nations arise that proclaim superior knowledge; and, occasionally, combined in that, "leadership" skills.<br />
<br />
It would seem that just like the mythical lemmings "fallen from the sky," and apparently ready to move forward <i>en masse</i> no matter the obstacle, human beings (exalted, enlightened) go through varying, less apparently instinctive cycles.<br />
<br />
The result, at least mythically or metaphorically or sometimes, actually - is that human beings do follow certain leadership, unquestioningly.<br />
<br />
Whether through the wilderness, over cliffs or over mountains - "because they are there" - the mysterious; some call it, "divine" quality of human faith, fantasy and folly continues onward.<br />
<br />
Now, certainly, in this great age of wonders - never seen before - perhaps, maybe, finally, we might actually get our stories (<a href="http://fr.topic-topos.com/la-grande-perspective-champs-sur-marne"><i>la grande perspective</i></a>) right?<br />
<br />
Happy New Year! edwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03214185482347071551noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7817971865684434008.post-34851254965444369992012-12-19T22:50:00.000-08:002012-12-20T07:20:12.919-08:00A new world inquisitor for the end world inquisitiveAs the "end of the world" according to Mayan calendar (not calendar<i>s</i>) enthusiasts draws near, it might be of some interest here (and elsewhere) to reflect upon the fall (but certainly not the last days) of that civilization.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/75/Diego_de_Landa.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="317" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/75/Diego_de_Landa.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Diego de Landa Calderón, </b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>(12 November, 1524 – 1579) Bishop of Yucatán</b></span></div>
<br />
First, discovering Spanish Franciscan missionary Diego de Landa and the bigger picture of <a href="http://freethoughtpedia.com/wiki/Diego_de_Landa">his legacy</a> as it stands today:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>"In 1549, he was assigned to the Yucatan peninsula where the zealous
young friar became one of the first Franciscans to live among the Mayas,
learning to speak their language and taking extensive notes about their
culture. For more than a decade, Landa and his fellow
missionaries struggled to convert the Mayas to Christianity while the
indigenous people steadfastly clung to their own spiritual beliefs.
Finally, Landa launched an <a href="http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Inquisition">inquisition</a> against the Mayas, torturing thousands and killing more than one hundred in an effort to get them to confess to human sacrifice and other sins."</i></blockquote>
<br />
Secondly, I came across the <a class="contentpagetitle" href="http://www.playamayanews.com/area_info/cenotes_the_sacred_waters_of_the_riviera_maya.html">The Sacred Waters of the Riviera Maya</a>, also known as the cenotes (or sinkholes; deep natural pits) of the Mayas.<br />
<br />
Reading carefully one might conclude something remarkable as well as ominous in <a href="http://www.pbs.org/kcet/when-worlds-collide/people/diego-de-landa.html">the story</a> based<br />
on evidence (of human and other
sacrifice) found in these sacred waters, which were also an
incredibly important resource of fresh water for the Mayans. A theory (one of many) therefore offered is that the waters became <i>contaminated</i> by the very human sacrifices offered to what was believed to be the entrance to the underworld.<br />
<br />
I, personally, could not help but think of these two sets of knowledge together, historically, as well as quite antithetically.<br />
<br />
"Evil" religious expression versus evil "religious" expression and/or culture clash ending in forgone conclusion.<br />
<br />
God dead *versus* god killed.<br />
<br />
Or perhaps I'm way off in such thoughts and for the Mayans (and Catholics/Christians, interestingly) the dead merely represent and supersede all and anything we, the living, can conce<span style="font-size: small;">ive</span> or concoct with our limited, fleshly minds? <br />
<br />
And hypothetically, a few questions arise:<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">Could <span style="font-size: small;">the (ultimate<span style="font-size: small;">) </span>encounter have gone any differently?</span> </span></span></span></span></span></span> <br />
<br />
What if Bishop <span style="font-size: small;">Diego de Landa Calderó<span style="font-size: small;">n <span style="font-size: small;">(</span>his authorities and proxies) had been more tolerant and loving?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">What i<span style="font-size: small;">f both Mayans and C<span style="font-size: small;">atholics had simply learned from eac<span style="font-size: small;">h other<span style="font-size: small;">, grown and changed naturally over the course of <span style="font-size: small;">time</span>?</span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">Today, the remnant of Mayan culture is<span style="font-size: small;"> getting a lot of attention<span style="font-size: small;">, i<span style="font-size: small;">ronically, <span style="font-size: small;">based much upon Bishop <a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0007BJJV8/ref=as_li_ss_til?tag=godandgulags-20&camp=0&creative=0&linkCode=as4&creativeASIN=B0007BJJV8&adid=0YPT45VHHRJVA3J0DXXM">Diego de Landa's own writings</a>.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">A</span>nd well it should<span style="font-size: small;">; for </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">in th<span style="font-size: small;">is new era of <a href="http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/Looking-Back-on-the-Limits-of-Growth.html">peak civilization</a><span style="font-size: small;">,</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span> the lessons of past encounters, in particular, may <span style="font-size: small;">helps save us from ourselves<span style="font-size: small;"> - again.</span></span></span></span> </span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span> </span><br />
<br />
edwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03214185482347071551noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7817971865684434008.post-75374567246484578212012-12-07T03:43:00.001-08:002012-12-07T04:50:40.650-08:00The cult of vanityIt amazes me, when I actually take time to simply - Stop, Breathe, Consider - that human beings, all of us, with our inherent impulse to live, move, sense and understand have not all gone into a state of absolute apoplexy, or, where possible; an endless, blissful trance.<br />
<br />
Taken in totality (possible these days to some degree, anyway), the vast sum of all human knowledge would seem to lead us (each to each) to that great, terrible, tantamount conclusion . . .<br />
<br />
In this Holy Day or Holiday season, whatever the case may be:<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Cherish each other and continue working (if you <a href="http://www.boston.com/news/world/europe/2012/12/06/greek-jobless-rate-record-percent/yXDLJO1yehSJiHMKNR4ExI/story.html">got it</a> or <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-09-07/payrolls-in-u-s-rose-96-000-in-august-jobless-rate-falls.html">can</a>) to "<a href="http://www.laughteryogaamerica.com/read/blog/wisdom-of-dr-hans-selye-aim-for-altruistic-egoism-154.php">earn your neighbor's love</a>." </span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://i.images.cdn.fotopedia.com/flickr-4864714198-original/Photography_Techniques/Astrophotography/Large_Image_Galaxies_Collide_in_the_Antennae_Galaxies_NASA_Chandra_Hubble_Spitzer_080510_Explored.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://i.images.cdn.fotopedia.com/flickr-4864714198-original/Photography_Techniques/Astrophotography/Large_Image_Galaxies_Collide_in_the_Antennae_Galaxies_NASA_Chandra_Hubble_Spitzer_080510_Explored.jpg" width="315" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"> <b>Galaxies<span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span>Collide<span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span>in<span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span>the<span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span>Antennae<span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span>Galaxies<span style="font-size: xx-small;"> (</span>NASA<span style="font-size: xx-small;">-</span>Chandra<span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span>Hubble<span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span>Spitzer)</b></span></div>
edwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03214185482347071551noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7817971865684434008.post-77405576498435645192012-11-08T00:07:00.000-08:002012-11-24T04:14:42.527-08:00Helicopter dreams<br />
<embed allowfullscreen="true" flashvars="fullSize=0&dataURL=http%3A//www.globalonenessproject.org/media/meta&videoId=3290" height="281" src="http://www.globalonenessproject.org/media/gop-player.swf" width="500"></embed><br />
<br />
<i>Everything is Incredible</i> is the story of a man suffering from the debilitating effects of polio who has dedicated his life to building a working helicopter out of re-bar, bicycle parts and wood. For the last 50 years, Agustin has spent all his energy on his quest to fly and prove to the world that he isn't crazy.<br />
<br />As stated on the "campaign" site <a href="http://www.indiegogo.com/round2everythingisincredible">Round 2</a>:<br />
<blockquote><br />The objective is two fold<br />
<br />1. Raise enough funds to help Agustin with living expenses by purchasing the helicopter and his home. He will retain both and at the end of his life the helicopter will be preserved to be a lasting legacy of who Agustin is and how he spent his life.<br />
<br />2. We would also like to raise enough to try and get Agustin up in a helicopter.<br />
<br />All of this will be filmed to make a feature length film about this amazing man.<br /></blockquote>
<br />On the other hand, foot, propeller, blade, etc. (or in addition to the above) you can donate to Red Cross disaster relief <a href="http://www.indiegogo.com/blog/2012/11/red-cross-partners-with-indiegogo.html">here</a>.edwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03214185482347071551noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7817971865684434008.post-19247560760451740582012-11-03T13:16:00.002-07:002012-12-12T21:19:48.273-08:00Rumsfeld on the Decline of America
The video seems to be unavailable.
No surprise as things go.
Here is the pertinent excerpt:
<br />
<blockquote>
"Let me be clear: I do not believe America is destined to stay on the current trajectory toward becoming something less than a first-rate country . . . . Only America’s leaders can stand in the way of the American people’s rendezvous with the future.
"I don’t think it will surprise anyone to learn that I think changing the trajectory of the last four years requires changing the leadership at the top."</blockquote>
To read the rest of some of Donald Rumsefeld's remarks, go <a href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/oct/2/gala-marks-success-of-the-washington-times/?page=all">here</a>.edwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03214185482347071551noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7817971865684434008.post-29922109953013646182012-10-07T19:41:00.000-07:002012-10-07T19:41:55.268-07:00A gulag closesUnconfirmed reports circulating since June of this year seem to be, at least, partially confirmed that a North Korean prison camp has been closed.<br />
<br />
<i>The Wall Street Journal Asia</i> in a <a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/korearealtime/2012/09/28/north-korea-gossip-gulag-closes-kims-aunt-sick/">report</a> referring to a <a href="http://www.dailynk.com/english/read.php?cataId=nk01500&num=9865">report from <i>The Daily NK</i></a> ("a still slightly shaky report<a class="n_text2f" href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7817971865684434008"></a> – but believable enough given the track record of the Web site," according to the WSJ) states that indeed, after "tracking down the rumor for months," "the camp was shut down in
June."<br />
<br />
Apparently precipitated by the repercussions of events involving the warden running off with another officer to China, a
source told the defector-staffed news site that, “At the start of March
they started transferring the sick and malnourished, and then in April
they moved all the healthiest ones.”<br />
<br />
According to the source, it is "unclear"
where the prisoners are now.<br />
<br />
At the height of its usage in the 1990s, <a href="http://freekorea.us/2007/02/18/holocaust-now-looking-down-into-hell-at-camp-22/">Camp 22</a> (Kwan-li-so No. 22) is believed to have held
up to 50,000 people. At 31 miles long and 20 miles wide, it was the largest of the
six remaining "giant gulags" in North Korea.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.wnd.com/images2/camp22.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="204" src="http://www.wnd.com/images2/camp22.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Based on the guilt by association principle (Korean: 연좌제, <i>yeonjwaje</i>) prisoners were most often imprisoned together with the whole family, including children and the elderly - until death.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-hrnk_8-1"></sup><br />
<br />
One down, five to go, or perhaps not. <br />
<br />
For every door that closes, sometimes it is not a window that opens, but merely another door.<br />
<br />
In this case, the door is unlikely to be one to freedom.<br />
<br />edwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03214185482347071551noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7817971865684434008.post-19718793878553956022012-09-20T01:57:00.001-07:002012-09-20T01:57:48.893-07:00Quiet ResolveFew "points of light" have lifted my spirit, of late, but the vision of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aung_San_Suu_Kyi">Aung San Suu Kyi</a> on a tour of America has somehow managed to do just that. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/42/Aung_San_Suu_Kyi_17_November_2011.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" hea="true" height="320" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/42/Aung_San_Suu_Kyi_17_November_2011.jpg" width="246" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<strong><span style="font-size: x-small;">Speaking to supporters last year</span></strong></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
Beyond any US domestic politics, she represents what few still do in this day and age: A very real symbol and voice (though still small, perhaps) for hope and change in her oppressed, <a href="http://www.asiaone.com/News/Latest%2BNews/Asia/Story/A1Story20090531-145075.html">"gulag" controlled</a> country of Myanmar (Burma). <br />
<br />
As the highlight of her two weeks, escorted and draped by various <i>cognizatti (</i>representative, it is hoped, of the full American democratic spectrum) she will travel to <a href="http://www.fortwayne.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/SE/20110610/NEWS/106100320">Fort Wayne, Indiana</a>, home to over 5,000 Burmese expatriates. <br />
<br />
Spending much of the last 20 years under "house arrest" by her country's military junta, Ms. Suu Kyi has received several noteworthy awards as well as much acclaim, including the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991. <br />
<br />
May her voice only get louder.edwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03214185482347071551noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7817971865684434008.post-80257045110060162672012-09-17T05:19:00.001-07:002012-09-17T07:20:57.746-07:00Not the Movie: Follow-upGuy Taylor in <a href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/sep/16/egypts-islamic-tv-talkswith-iron-salafist/?page=all#pagebreak">yesterday's Washington Times</a> provided some interesting insights on the milieu of the brutal murders in Libya and the simmering violence currently enveloping the apparently still very fluid "Arab Spring."<br />
<br />
In the paradox that is the still censored, but somewhat "new and open" Egypt post-Mubarak, remarks quoted by sociologist <a href="http://www.cartercenter.org/peace/human_rights/defenders/defenders/Egypt_saad_eddin_ibrahim.html">Saadudin Ibrahim</a> are particularly worth noting.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“The young people who carried out the revolution are not in power,” Mr. Ibrahim
said. <br />
<br />
“It’s the latecomers who are in power. Some of them, like the <a href="http://salafis.org/">Salafis</a>, did not participate in the revolution at all,” Mr. Ibrahim said. “This is an indication of their plan to hijack, control and monopolize.”</blockquote>
Alas, isn't it often so?<br />
<blockquote>
7 The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.
8 “Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. 9 So go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’ 10 So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, the bad as well as the good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.
11 “But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. 12 He asked, ‘How did you get in here without wedding clothes, friend?’ The man was speechless.
13 “Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
14 “For many are invited, but few are chosen.”
(Matthew 22:7-14; NIV)</blockquote>
And though the "critics" of the Salafist/Islamists would seem to have some upper hand in the "new Egypt/Arab World," this critical, non-Muslim, outsider, bystander, etc., sees it a little different.<br />
<br />
Nevertheless, may religious extremists, everywhere - and perhaps, as well, some (of us) who stand idly by seemingly (or actually) doing nothing or very little at all - lose their (our) foothold upon the souls of men and women.
edwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03214185482347071551noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7817971865684434008.post-65994072512774672902012-09-16T15:40:00.001-07:002012-09-16T15:55:10.275-07:00Korean Society, Women, Wonder<br />
Reflecting this evening on passings, plans and possible outcomes.<br />
<br />
Do our prayers have much meaning, particularly (or especially), when reduced to rote repetition or verbal recitation?<br />
<br />
What of ceremony; whether collective or individual?<br />
<br />
For an individual, might that not become routine?<br />
Among a crowd, is that not called a demonstration (i.e., vanity)?<br />
<br />
Part of my <i>personal</i> "gulag" (used very loosely) is facing the daily challenge of an "intercultural" relationship. <br />
<br />
We, of the West (or merely in it) appreciate our parents and love them, but seem to carry a certain "guilt" when we're not able (or even willing) to care for them, particularly in old age.<br />
<br />
And then for those of us immersed, enraptured (or merely) somehow captured by the East, we find much that is beautiful as well as much that seems to comfort or assuage that "guilt."<br />
<br />
Have we been selfish (about that)?<br />
<br />
Further, when it comes to raising children, it seems, there are also themes of guilt, unresolved, by both the <i>intracultural</i> as well as the intercultural divide. <br />
<br />
Who will raise our children when we cannot? Who do we allow, if we do at all, to "help us" when we practically (or by virtue of choice) cannot? Does the mother (or woman or even "designated person" in this age) become the indispensable, irreplaceable?<br />
<br />
And maybe even as <a href="http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Alexander_Solzhenitsyn">Solzhenitsyn</a> [might have] said (in this context): "It is time in the West to defend not so much human rights as human obligations"?<br />
<br />
The "bigger picture," whether culled from faith, hope, religion, the internet or wherever these days may provide us some insight on that.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.hcs.harvard.edu/~yisei/issues/spring_95/yisei_95_30.html">Here's something</a> from 1995 written (by a Ms. Connie Chung) for a Harvard "<span class="body">bi-annual publication spearheaded by Korean-American undergraduates," that bills (or billed?) itself as <i>Yisei</i> ("<span class="body">second-generation" in Korean). </span></span><br />
<br />
A (particularly poignant) excerpt:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i><span style="font-size: small;">Korean society, to a large extend [sic], still assumes
that "the mother’s first duty is to raise the child, and no one else can
substitute for the mother" (Seo
Jin Young 139). Thus, even if the number of day-care centers were to
increase the mother would still be left feeling guilty. Leaving her
child in the care of a substitute, the society tells her, can never
equal the quality of her own care. Of course, it
may be reasonable to expect that a child growing under the care of
strangers or left alone while the mother works may develop problems not
faced by "properly mothered" children. However, the widely held notion
that the mother alone should be
responsible for the well-being of a child’s emotional and educational
growth is a prejudiced fallacy indeed. Gong Ji Young, in her novel Go Alone, Like the Horn of a Rhino
(based on the well-known tale of a mother who searches for her child
kidnapped
by a demon) asks, "When the demon took the baby, where was everyone
else? The baby’s father? The relatives? How about the society? What was
everyone else doing? Why was the woman the only one feeling the pain of
eyes gouged out and thorns in her
feet?
" (Gong Ji Young 231).</span></i></blockquote>
<br />
Can a mother's unique, special, deep <a href="http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/empathy/">empathy</a> ever be replaced?<br />
<br />
Should it?<br />
<br />
Why? [must she suffer so?]<br />
<br />
Why not? [must I suffer so little?]<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHnZzZenYwINMsMVneKToUjsuhxC8_QJ_9VVSGJWEwlkUkHgWUaioOhUm3Cah1ayhwtAziZPKoO0zvvQx36HIOMHXl-UHXX22yix21l24d2zM-Z5CbQTP3VaXr-nkMUUDOdp_wA0e1aEfB/s640/Korean+Mother+and+Child.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHnZzZenYwINMsMVneKToUjsuhxC8_QJ_9VVSGJWEwlkUkHgWUaioOhUm3Cah1ayhwtAziZPKoO0zvvQx36HIOMHXl-UHXX22yix21l24d2zM-Z5CbQTP3VaXr-nkMUUDOdp_wA0e1aEfB/s320/Korean+Mother+and+Child.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="P11 SB" id="m_it">Korean mother and child near Seoul; Fall 1945</span></span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="P11 SB" id="m_it"><span style="font-size: small;">Because I am small? </span></span></span><b><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="P11 SB" id="m_it"><br /></span></span></b></div>
edwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03214185482347071551noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7817971865684434008.post-72221480098881907742012-09-15T20:09:00.001-07:002012-09-15T21:09:19.651-07:00Not The MovieAccording to facts compiled <em>last week</em> on the blog of <a href="http://www.carolineglick.com/e/2012/09/the-911-attacks-on-the-us-emba.php">Caroline Glick</a>, Senior Fellow for Middle Eastern Affairs at the <a href="http://www.centerforsecuritypolicy.org/1665.xml">Center for Security Policy</a> in Washington, DC, , the 9/11 attacks on the US embassies were defintely <strong><span style="color: yellow;">not</span></strong> about a movie.<br />
<br />
Most telling and of possible, urgent interest to the current Administration, especially as it prepares to powow with Muslim Brotherhood Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi next week in New York is this fact:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
" . . . as it turns out, the film was screened on an Egyptian Salafist television channel. Obviously the Salafists -- many of whom, like Zawahiri were released from prison by Morsi, wanted to stir up anti-US violence on the eve of 9/11. So if the film is responsible for the violence, a finger needs to be pointed to its <strong><span style="color: yellow;">chief distributor</span></strong>-- Al Qaida's Egyptian friends and members. </blockquote>
Including Egyptian President Morsi himself?<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://img.ibtimes.com/www/data/images/full/2012/07/13/288025-morsi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" hea="true" height="266" src="http://img.ibtimes.com/www/data/images/full/2012/07/13/288025-morsi.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />edwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03214185482347071551noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7817971865684434008.post-82903839906775657102012-09-02T18:26:00.000-07:002012-09-02T18:27:26.258-07:00In the beginningIn the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the <br />
Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. <br />
<br />
Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that <br />
has been made. <br />
<br />
In him was life, and that life was the light of men. <br />
<br />
The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not <br />
understood it. <br />
<br />
There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. He came <br />
as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him <br />
all men might believe. <br />
<br />
He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. <br />
<br />
The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.<br />
<br />
He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the <br />
world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but <br />
his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those <br />
who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of <br />
God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision <br />
or a husband’s will, but born of God. <br />
<br />
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen <br />
his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, <br />
full of grace and truth. <br />
<br />
John testifies concerning him. He cries out, saying, “This was he <br />
of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he <br />
was before me.’”From the fullness of his grace we have all <br />
received one blessing after another. <br />
<br />
For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. <br />
<br />
No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known. <br />
<br />
Now this was John’s testimony when the Jews of Jerusalem sent <br />
priests and Levites to ask him who he was. <br />
<br />
He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely, “I am not the Christ.” <br />
<br />
They asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?”<br />
<br />
He said, “I am not.”<br />
<br />
“Are you the Prophet?”<br />
<br />
He answered, “No.” <br />
<br />
Finally they said, “Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to <br />
those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” <br />
<br />
John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, “I am the voice of <br />
one calling in the desert, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.’”<br />
<br />
Now some Pharisees who had been sent questioned him, “Why then do <br />
you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” <br />
<br />
“I baptize withi water,” John replied, “but among you stands one <br />
you do not know. He is the one who comes after me, the thongs of <br />
whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.” <br />
<br />
This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, where <br />
John was baptizing. <br />
<br />
(John 1:1-28)edwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03214185482347071551noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7817971865684434008.post-79036081208872523522012-08-29T00:26:00.001-07:002012-08-29T12:47:40.828-07:00Boys, girls, gods, demons<br />
Collaborate or resist?<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
Little devils . . . </div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/Devils-from-Rila-monastery.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/Devils-from-Rila-monastery.jpg" width="203" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
. . . versus beautiful angels. </div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/05/William-Adolphe_Bouguereau_%281825-1905%29_-_Song_of_the_Angels_%281881%29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/05/William-Adolphe_Bouguereau_%281825-1905%29_-_Song_of_the_Angels_%281881%29.jpg" width="218" /></a></div>
<br />
Modern <a href="http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/hume-moral/">sentimentalism</a> versus unwavering <a href="http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Absolutism">absolutism</a>.<br />
<br />
Be the change or get changed.<br />
<br />
Pay a compliment.<br />
<br />
Insult. <br />
<br />
Yin/yang.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/information-entropy/">Devolve into nothingness</a> (mathematically) or choose <a href="http://bible.cc/matthew/7-13.htm">the narrow path</a>. <br />
<br />
Certain (or ambiguous) archetypes, symbols, myths, and/or forms; endure. <br />
<br />
Or as Mitya (Dmitri) Karamazov in Dostoevsky's "Brothers Karamazov" stated it, <i>"Without God all things are permitted."</i><br />
<br />
But why is it that in this modern age we (so many of us) still have such a total lack of real consideration (mindfulness) when it comes to "ideas" great and small, much of the time?<br />
<br />
It really does seem to be true that "hypotheses tend to devolve into axioms" (or cryptic sound bites), often (even for the above, though oft-quoted).<br />
<br />
Let a Russian <a href="http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/andrei_volkov/dostoevsky.html">clarify that for you</a>.<br />
<br />
Perhaps rooted in it all is simply the need (or desire) to be nurtured? To be (constantly, faithfully, etc.) "loved"?<br />
<br />
For an example, a <a href="http://www.international.ucla.edu/research/private/article.asp?parentid=24604">sketchy study by a couple of economists in 2003</a> concluded that women are more likely to divorce their husbands, particularly IF they are parents of girls.<br />
<br />
And nurturing seems to figure prominently in that reasoning.<br />
<br />
As Steven E. Landsburg put it in his <a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/everyday_economics/2003/10/oh_no_its_a_girl.html">Oct 2003 article for Slate</a>
magazine on the study, "All over the world, boys hold marriages together, and girls
break them up."<br />
<br />
An oddly interesting, if axiomatic conclusion. <br />
<br />
Elsewhere, the corporate philosophy of "productive conflict toward harmony" <a href="http://www.teambuildingportal.com/articles/effective-teams/encourage-productive-conflict">has its merits</a>, though figures less well.<br />
<br />
But then, a marriage (or family; including brothers and/or sisters) is not like a corporation. [Is it?] <br />
<br />
Ultimately, agreement, ever elusive in the best of times, might be found in affirming that none [should] be lonely or without help.<br />
<br />
We need each other.<br />
<br />
"True" religion somehow maintains a place somewhere within our most basic (or primeval) psyche, heart, hunger and/or quest for the good, the better and the best; despite its consistent failure (s) to lead us (collectively, inclusively) forward.<br />
<br />
However, within that hunger and/or quest, maybe someday our everyday uncertainty - whether inherent or inflicted - will become an overtly, humbly acknowledged constant.<br />
<br />
Finally, as an afterthought, might Dostoevsky just as easily have written the words of Dmitri as: <i>"With</i> God 'all things' are permitted"?edwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03214185482347071551noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7817971865684434008.post-53217112764709468612012-08-17T13:57:00.000-07:002012-08-17T14:16:30.424-07:00North Korea High<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f6/Fall-of-Kuryong-at-GeumGangSan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f6/Fall-of-Kuryong-at-GeumGangSan.jpg" width="276" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span dir="auto">Kuryong Falls at <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Kumgang">Mt. Kumgang</a></span></span></b></div>
<br />
North Korean optimism (within its capital, that is) has seldom been so high.<br />
<br />
With new love at the top (what else is there?), an <a href="http://www.660news.com/sports/article/392662--north-korea-s-olympic-athletes-get-heroes-welcome-at-home-after-best-finish-since-barcelona">Olympic high</a>, news comes also of Uncle Jang going <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505245_162-57493359/china-north-korea-step-up-trade-%5C%20zone-cooperation/">north to China</a>.<br />
<br />
According to Chinese state media, Beijing and Pyongyang have agreed to<br />
"accelerate their joint development of two trade zones in North Korea."<br />
<br />
"Kim Jong Un's powerful [sic] uncle Jang Song Thaek formalized the agreements Tuesday in meetings with China's Ministry of Commerce."<br />
<br />
Jang is a vice chairman of the powerful National Defense Commission and is seen<br />
as a leading economic policy official.<br />
<br />
Uncle Jang's six-day visit could (even) be prelude to a visit by Kim.<br />
<br />
Chalk it all up to the <a href="http://www.blogger.com/%20http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505263_162-57480418/does-north-korea-leader-kim-jong%5C%20-uns-marriage-and-fresh-image-mean-change-is-coming/">July surprise wedding honey</a>?<br />
<br />
Hope (and true love?), even in the darkest of nights, springs . . . <br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505263_162-57480418/does-north-korea-leader-kim-jong-uns-marriage-and-fresh-image-mean-change-is-coming/"></a>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://resources1.news.com.au/images/2012/07/26/1226436/150365-120727-kim-jong-un-and-ri-sol-ju.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://resources1.news.com.au/images/2012/07/26/1226436/150365-120727-kim-jong-un-and-ri-sol-ju.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">Kim Jong-un and Ri Sol-ju take a stroll</span></b></div>
edwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03214185482347071551noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7817971865684434008.post-68469674768713540592012-08-02T09:59:00.003-07:002012-08-14T02:04:05.994-07:00Peace through strengthRonald Reagan is certainly the most modern day statesman to make the concept "peace through strength" his own, but it should be old news that the root of such a stance is an ancient one.<br />
<br />
A curious (public) response to how such a philosophy would, might or should apply in the case of the gun violence at the cinema incident in Colorado has me, personally, considering this idea more deeply.<br />
<br />
The response, in three words, was basically: "Attack the attacker!"<br />
<br />
But does [brute] strength, indeed (and always), deter evil?<br />
<br />
For example, could the "joker" at the cinema have been stopped in his tracks if even one person, carrying a concealed weapon (with permit) had been there - and actually taken a shot?<br />
<br />
Or, to take this to its most extreme, yet surely most noble context: Remember September 11, 2001.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.historycommons.org/events-images/324_todd_beamer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.historycommons.org/events-images/324_todd_beamer.jpg" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>"Let's roll."</b></span></div>
<br />
<span style="float: right;"> </span><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br />
What would <span style="font-size: large;">"I"</span> have done?</div>
edwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03214185482347071551noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7817971865684434008.post-62922693182760774412012-07-21T22:22:00.000-07:002012-08-02T10:13:13.194-07:00Of martyrs and media stars<br />
George Zimmerman and James Holmes would seem to have very little in common.<br />
<br />
Zimmerman describes himself as a man versus "the gun" (in a <a href="http://www.hannity.com/article/exclusive-george-zimmerman-breaks-silence-on-hannity/15798">Sean Hannity/Fox TV interview</a>).<br />
<br />
Holmes has yet to describe his view of self in light of recent gruesome events, but wait not too long. <br />
<br />
It may be coming.<br />
<br />
Which brings me to questions redundant, never fully answered.<br />
<br />
How does media, whether manipulated (or prodded) by victim's interests as well as particular so-called perpetrator "rights" serve the (best) public interest in such cases?<br />
<br />
To inform factually is a given, however, does media, by exposing every angle and facet of a crime while the investigation and prosecution is in progress, truly serve the public?<br />
<br />
How much information is too much?<br />
<br />
In particular, when does a (self-confessed) perpetrator of violent crime, involving death and/or debilitation, deserve to be heard?<br />
<br />
The Zimmerman justification is (uniquely) more or less: "He's been convicted in the press already by a liberal-inspired agenda that used the parents of the victim to elicit an emotional rush to judgement, so let George speak."<br />
<br />
He has.<br />
<br />
A sampling:<br />
<br />
""I feel that it was all God's plan, and for me to second guess it or judge it," (shook his head).<br />
<br />
The Holmes justification might be: "He murdered 12 people (58 injured) in a premeditated rampage, but he's very bright, so let's hear what he has to say."<br />
<br />
In other words, the upcoming (recurring) refrain might be, "the mentally ill are <i>our</i> problem - as collective humanity; shame on us . . . and let's hear from this pitiful [expletives deleted].<br />
<br />
So far (thankfully) the victim's voices have been the loudest and clearest.<br />
<br />
Bottomline:<br />
<br />
How well do media (or any of us) actually listen (well) to the voices of the dead - as well as those now separated from their loved ones?<br />
<br />
Shouldn't we, can't we do better?<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f7/Liepaja_December_1941_massacres_01.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" hda="true" height="212" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f7/Liepaja_December_1941_massacres_01.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liep%C4%81ja_massacres" title="Liepāja massacres"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Mass murder of 2,749 Jews on the beach near the city of Liepāja</span></a><span style="font-size: x-small;">, </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">in </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latvia" title="Latvia"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Latvia</span></a><span style="font-size: x-small;">, </span><span style="font-size: x-small;">on December 15 through 17, 1941.</span></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">But what is liberty without wisdom, and without virtue? It is the greatest of all possible evils; for it is folly, vice, and madness, without tuition or restraint." ~Edmund Burke</span></i>edwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03214185482347071551noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7817971865684434008.post-14253805092303040582012-07-06T01:05:00.000-07:002012-07-07T09:30:42.739-07:00Native Wisdom<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;">"So live your life that the fear of death can never enter your heart. Trouble no one about their religion; respect others in their view, and demand that they respect yours. </span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Love your life, perfect your life, beautify all things in your life. </span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Seek to make your life long and its purpose in the service of your people. </span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Prepare a noble death song for the day when you go over the great divide.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Always give a word or a sign of salute when meeting or passing a friend, even a stranger, when in a lonely place. </span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Show respect to all people and grovel to none.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">When you arise in the morning give thanks for the food and for the joy of living. If you see no reason for giving thanks, the fault lies only in yourself. </span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Abuse no one and no thing, for abuse turns the wise ones to fools and robs the spirit of its vision. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">When it comes your time to die, be not like those whose hearts are filled with the fear of death, so that when their time comes they weep and pray for a little more time to live their lives over again in a different way. </span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Sing your death song and die like a hero going home."</span></blockquote>
<br />
<i>~Chief Tecumseh (allegedly composed by him, but also ascribed to <a href="http://mendotadakota.com/mn/2009/01/11/test-2-2/">Wabasha</a>, <a href="http://www.sittingbull.org/">Sitting Bull</a>, <a href="http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/142065/Crazy-Horse">Crazy Horse</a> and <a href="http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Wovoka">Wovoka</a>) </i>[and as recently quoted in the movie, "<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1591479/">Act of Valor</a>"] <br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b8/Tecumseh.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" sca="true" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b8/Tecumseh.jpg" width="260" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Tecumseh</b></span></div>edwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03214185482347071551noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7817971865684434008.post-73415219706823685342012-06-23T10:44:00.001-07:002012-07-07T09:19:10.182-07:00Greek gods and endsWith so many Greek (and Greece) references bombarding the senses lately (the titanic "<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078748/">Alien</a>" prequel epic <a href="http://www.prometheus-movie.co.uk/">Prometheus</a>, for one; not to mention the focus of European <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/greek-election-blog-2012/2012/jun/13/costas-lapavitsas-greece-eurozone-crisis">economic ruin</a> and <a href="http://www.uefa.com/uefaeuro/news/newsid=1831699.html">gallant efforts</a>, also) I thought I'd at least come on board with something on a subject near my heart and of some relevance to this blog's continuing theme of divine/human juxtapositions.<br />
<br />
No matter what the ruling this week on the <i>Great American Healthcare Boondoggle</i>, the debate (and spin) will continue.<br />
<br />
A <a href="http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/06_22/b3986001.htm">2006 article from Businessweek</a> read over this morning got me considering some of the other sides of why this is so.<br />
<br />
So much of medicine (politics, etc.), even today, remains guesswork.<br />
<br />
That said, Dr. David Eddy (featured in aforementioned article) today continues to promote solutions through computer modeling as well as prudence and due diligence before <i>any</i> (particularly such high and mighty) policy recommendations.<br />
<br />
Founded in 1992, his <a href="http://archimedesmodel.com/company">Archimedes, Inc.</a> began as a consultancy for <a href="https://healthy.kaiserpermanente.org/html/kaiser/index.shtml">Kaiser Permanente</a>.<br />
<br />
A watershed for Archimedes came in 2007 when the <a href="http://www.rwjf.org/">Robert Wood Johnson Foundation</a> awarded it a $15.6M grant to make the power of the Archimedes Model "accessible to a wider range [of] health policy and healthcare decision makers, more rapidly and less expensively that had been possible in the past."<br />
<br />
It would seem to behoove we the voting populace of <i>citizens</i> everywhere to realize that *many* politicians (aka titanic tricksters) have seen us, more or less, as their very own private guinea pigs.<br />
<br />
Armed with such knowledge, does it not make some sense, therefore, that we might simply be stuck here (on <i>terra firma</i> with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaia_%28mythology%29">Gaia</a>), forever, striving to embody the elusive, yet commonsensical <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hippocratic_Oath">Hippocratic</a> mantra of "Physician (and patient) heal thyself"?<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0e/Prometheus_Adam_Louvre_MR1745_edit_atoma.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0e/Prometheus_Adam_Louvre_MR1745_edit_atoma.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">Prometheus bound: "May I at least have a nice Chianti to go with that?"</span></b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>edwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03214185482347071551noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7817971865684434008.post-73227647247772242462012-05-21T20:59:00.000-07:002012-07-07T09:28:52.724-07:00Our Indispensable MoonCaught a documentary on <a href="http://science.discovery.com/">The Science Channel</a> early the other morning (first broadcast back in 2011 on <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00yb5jp">BBC Two</a>).<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://docuwiki.net/images/b/b5/Do-We-Really-Need-the-Moon-Cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://docuwiki.net/images/b/b5/Do-We-Really-Need-the-Moon-Cover.jpg" width="460" /></a></div>
<br />
Space scientist and "lunar fanatic" Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock explores our intimate relationship with the Moon. Besides orchestrating the tides, the moon dictates the length of a day, the rhythm of the seasons and the very stability of our planet.<br />
<br />
Yet the Moon is always on the move. In the past it was closer to Earth and in the future it'll be farther away. That it is now perfectly placed to sustain life is pure luck, a cosmic coincidence. Using computer graphics to summon up great tides and set the Earth spinning on its side, Maggie Aderin-Pocock implores us to look at the Moon afresh: to see it not as an inert rock, but as a key player in the story of our planet, past, present and future. Toward that end, the discovery of <a href="http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/07/09/moon-water.html">water on the moon</a> is highlighted to powerful effect.
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
Another documentary (broadcast in 1999 on Discovery) entitled <span style="font-size: small;"><b><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0473046/">"If We Had No Moon,"</a></b></span><br />
though obviously less up to date scientifically, delved deep into the "indispensable quality" theme.</div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
An essay by Bernard Foing, Executive Director of the <a class="external text" href="http://sci.esa.int/science-e/www/object/index.cfm?fobjectid=34125" rel="nofollow">International Lunar Exploration Working Group</a>, in <a href="http://www.astrobio.net/index.php?option=com_retrospection&task=detail&id=2507">Astrobiology Magazine</a> online sums up the Moon's place (so far) within the human universe fairly succinctly:</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<i>"Finally, the Moon had a key role in the emergence of science, and in our understanding of our place in the universe. We saw the repetition of the phenomena of lunar phases, and we observed solar and lunar eclipses. These were big challenges to our understanding of nature, and a few astronomers were put to death because they weren’t able to predict the eclipses. This challenged us to develop accurate predictions for the motion of the sun and the motion of the Moon.<br /><br />Studying the Moon helped us determine distances in the solar system and the size of celestial objects. By studying lunar phases, for example, people were able to determine how far the Moon is from the Earth, the size of the Earth, and our distance from the sun. More recently, the Moon was the terrain where the </i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_race"><i>space race</i></a><i> took place between two political systems, allowing for great technical and scientific achievements. The Moon has inspired humankind to learn how to travel to space, and to bring life beyond Earth’s cradle."</i></div>
</blockquote>edwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03214185482347071551noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7817971865684434008.post-37203116998994742862012-03-18T22:29:00.000-07:002012-07-07T09:32:56.775-07:00When they came for meIn <a href="https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/su.html"> Sudan, </a>security forces have confiscated a third consecutive issue of the country's Communist Party newspaper, Al-Midan, reportedly for "ignoring a warning to avoid writing about the killing of a girl by police which sparked protests," according to the editor.<br />
<br />
Though Sudan's constitution guarantees freedom of the press, such incidents have increased, coinciding with the secession of South Sudan in July 2011.<br />
<br />
In total, three newspapers critical of the government since the start of the year have had publication suspended, although one has since resumed production.<br />
<br />
Of note, also, Sudan has [somehow] avoided a popular uprising such as those seen in Tunisia, Egypt and elsewhere. <br />
<br />
However, small protests in Khartoum and other cities over rising food prices and other issues have apparently been worrisome, particularly for <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7923102.stm">international outlaw</a>, Lieutenant General Omar Hassan Ahmad Al-Bashir, President of Sudan.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2b/L-Omar_al-Bashir-Alfashir.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="400" width="300" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2b/L-Omar_al-Bashir-Alfashir.jpg" /></a></div>edwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03214185482347071551noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7817971865684434008.post-68885064420936634982012-03-09T06:58:00.008-08:002012-07-07T09:34:55.761-07:00Gulag EthiopiaWell regarded and widely read, Professor <a href="http://almariam.ethiobloggers.com/">Alemayehu G. Mariam,</a> who teaches political science at California State University, San Bernardino has been writing weekly on the plight of his countrymen and their particular regional issues for the last several years.<br />
<br />
As he writes:<br />
<blockquote>In August 2009, I spoke at a town hall meeting organized by “Gasha for Ethiopia”, a civic organization, on the importance of remembering Ethiopian political prisoners:<br />
<br />
In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends,” said Dr. Martin Luther King… Nothing is more important and uplifting to political prisoners than knowledge of the fact that they are not forgotten, abandoned and forsaken by the outside world. Remembrance gatherings at town hall meetings such as this one serve to remind all of us who live in freedom the divine blessings of liberty and the unimaginable suffering of those trapped in the darkness of dictatorship.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://ethiomedia.com/broad/3102.html">Andualem Aragie</a> and countless political prisoners in Ethiopia reamin trapped in the darkness of dictatorship. They have been beaten down and brought to their knees. We cannot hear their whimpers of pain and desperation. Few, other than their tormentors, will be able to see their mangled bodies. Because they have no voice, we must be their voices and speak on their behalf. Because they are walled in behind filthy and subhuman prison institutions, we must unflaggingly remind the world of their suffering. We must all labor for the cause of Ethiopian political prisoners not because it is easy or fashionable, but because it is ethical, honorable, right and just. In the end, what will make the difference for the future of Ethiopia is not the brutality, barbarity, bestiality and inhumanity of its corrupt dictators, but the humanity, dignity, adaptability, audacity, empathy and compassion of decent Ethiopians for their wrongfully imprisoned compatriots. That is why we must join hands and work tirelessly to free all political prisoners held in Ethiopia’s public and secret gulags. “Let the oppressed go free, and remove the chains that bind people.”</blockquote>Further and more recently:<br />
<blockquote>The “Gulag” prison system in the old Soviet Union was infamous for warehousing and persecuting dissidents and opponetns. The gulags were used effectively to weed out and neutralize opposition to the Soviet state. They were the quintessential tools of Soviet state terrorism. Some called them “meat-grinders” because of the extremely harsh and inhumane conditions. Torture, physical abuse by prison guards, solitary confinement, inadequate food rations and officially instigated inmate-on-inmate violence were the hallmarks of the gulags.<br />
<br />
Ethiopia’s prison system today are reminiscent of the Soviet gulags in their abuse and mistreatment of political and other prisoners. Let the facts speak for themselves <a href="http://open.salon.com/blog/almariam/2012/02/26/political_prisoners_inside_ethiopias_gulags"> -->>></a> </blockquote><br />
Meanwhile, the country as a whole finds itself (also) in the grips of yet more drought and consequent famine.<br />
<br />
And, in any case, <a href="http://allafrica.com/stories/201202291289.html">the forecasts</a> of various forecasters, whether official, professional or anonymous remain, ultimately, bleak.<br />
<br />
There is, however, ever, music . . .edwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03214185482347071551noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7817971865684434008.post-72117423028761226122012-02-23T11:26:00.001-08:002012-07-07T09:36:09.900-07:00Somewhere SyriaIn Syria, as elsewhere, Arab Spring continues to bleed.<br />
<br />
Will "Democracy" truly save the day?<br />
<br />
A "Friends of Syria" <a href="http://bit.ly/zkogbq%20">parlay</a> hopes so:<br />
<br />
<blockquote>
[U.S. Secretary of State Hillary] Clinton leaves London for a visit to Tunisia to participate in the meetings. The State Department said the meeting was "part of our ongoing efforts with our friends, allies, and the Syrian opposition to crystallize next steps to halt the slaughter of the Syrian people and pursue a transition to democracy in Syria."<br />
<br />
A report from the independent international commission of inquiry on Syria found the government has "manifestly failed" to protect its own people.<br />
<br />
"The present situation risks further radicalizing the population, deepening inter-communal tensions and eroding the fabric of society," the panel found.<br />
<br />
The panel, in a 72-page report published Thursday (2/23), said there was a "reliable body of evidence" to suggest officials at the "highest level of government" were responsible for crimes against humanity in Syria.</blockquote>
<br />
<a href="http://bit.ly/xljZFx">More . . . </a>edwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03214185482347071551noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7817971865684434008.post-2221245222954513962012-01-06T11:58:00.000-08:002012-07-07T09:42:31.048-07:00Fear and Loathing in North Korea<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Or more to the point: Bow or Die!<br />
<br />
A report by Donald Kirk of <a href="http://east-asia-intel.com/eai/">East-Asia-Intel.com</a> seems to explain the current environment in the post Kim Jong-il, new Kim Jung-un North Korea fairly well.<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The rise of the son as "supreme commander" of North Korea's armed forces gives<br />
rise to nostalgia. Already the reign of the father is beginning to seem like the<br />
good old days.<br />
<br />
At least as long as Kim Jong-Il was around a certain sense of security<br />
prevailed. South Koreans could be sure, despite "incidents", that North Korea<br />
was not going to stage more than isolated attacks. And North Koreans could be<br />
sure, as long as they suffered in silent acceptance of their fates, they would<br />
not be consigned to the country's vast <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2004/feb/01/northkorea">gulag</a> system or some lesser form of<br />
torture and imprisonment.<br />
<br />
Now, as Kim Jong-Un begins to throw his considerable weight around, that sense<br />
of security is gone. The rules are tightening. Families are subject to execution<br />
unto the third generation if one of their members is caught sneaking across the<br />
Yalu or Tumen River borders into China. Authorities are cracking down on private<br />
markets, the lifelines for millions in the starving countryside.<br />
<br />
More than anything else, the specter of purge hangs over the populace.<br />
<br />
It's begun with confessions and punishment for those who did not mourn<br />
convincingly over Kim Jong-Il's death; those who missed mass weeping and wailing<br />
in cities and towns around the country or who did not seem sufficiently sincere . . .<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.worldnewstribune.com/2012/01/03/fear-reigns-anew-in-n-korea-purges-punishment-for-unconvincing-mourning-loom/">>>Read more</a></blockquote>
</div>edwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03214185482347071551noreply@blogger.com0