Somethings never change

In the mid 14th century, the Black Death ravaged Europe taking, perhaps half the population. The hundred years war came to a halt. But it didn't take but a few years for the French and English to start killing each other again. The church grew rich on property seized and the bishops diverted the large monies set aside for the poor to their own needs, as they claimed the poor were now all dead.To finance the continuing 100 years war, France imposed a war tax, as follows: 4% from the rich,5% from the middle classes and 10% from the poor. Perhaps we have not yet left the middle ages.
What amazes me about America is not the greed and hate of the right, or the misplaced idealism and internecine strife of the left, its the stupidity of the American people to believe the lies that thrown at them from both direction. Neither side, neither party is at all interested in the welfare of the common man, they want their 10%, thats all.

Abrahamic religions... the demise of the Mother Goddess

Although humanity's first deity might have been the bear cult(Neanderthal circa 100,000BC), our immediate forebearers(Cro Magnon man 40,000) are associated with a female Mother. Represented in paleolithic art by the numerous cave venuses found in Europe and Central Asia, it echoes the mystery of birth and creation. Caves become wombs and the creative aspects are foremost. Then we learn to study the skies and find our relationships with the music of the cosmos.( moon and menstrual cycles, snakes shedding skins and rebirth etc.) Our mythology becomes Goddess centered. Along comes Abraham and his elevated storm god(Yahweh) This changes everthing. The story of the end of Goddess worship is in Genesis. Eve consorts with the snake(common symbolic association of mothers and rebirth). She eats of the tree of knowledge and God expells her and Adam before they eat of the second tree(immortality) The snake and therefore nature become corrupt, woman cursed and demoted to second class citizenry and mankind inherits an original sin which Christ must be sacrificed for. Of the three Abrahamic faiths(Judaism,Christianity and Islam) Christianity retains more of the pagan incorporating much pagan symbolism. As nature is now corrupt, we have created evil, dualism. we have removed God to heaven. Enlightenment is the return to non duality.

Britomartis

Searching around eternity for my 72 Gothic schoolgirl virgins that tempt me on my search for unity I came across this goddess. She's 3500 years old( and still a virgin???WTF), comes from Crete, associated with mother goddess chores. Her name is Britomartis (sweet virgin). Hmm Brett n Brit, fits well. The snakes, wierd hair, sort of plaid skirt and for me the du rigeur exposed breast. Mythworld! You create your own, you populate it and you live it. A world without time and decay, it becomes a metaphor for the "real world". Slowly we see man's greatest error, man forgets god is in himself and of himself and of all,partners, siblings,communion. Man removes god to another place, usually hard to get to, say heaven,valhalla,nirvana etc. Sometimes we split the god into a duality of good and evil, thus seperating what once was one. Perhaps man obtained his powers from is first contact with understanding,say 40,000 yrs ago. Art arrives, full blown, tools,once good for a million years begin to resemble Detroit with brand new model years, a 3500 bc Ford hand axe model b 123. The' secret' is simply that god exists in us and in all in unity of being. One organism. We are cells doing our job, or perhaps we are cancer or some loathsome parasite. Just a minute part. And we forgot, and removed god, put him up in some holy attic to take down Xmas,hannukah, eid al adha ( Eid Mubarak!- it's today) How can we understand unity, humanity being so obsessed with division. Anyway back on the road to nirvana, I encounter Britomartis and Tara...........Sexy mythworld

A letter to K

While Muslims are preparing for the Hajj which starts on Wednesday, and Christians and Jews begin preparations for Christmas and Hannukah, while catholic bishops ban a Kennedy from communion(abortion issue) and wingnuts right and left decry the Hadron collider's search for even smaller particles of matter, I wonder why religion no longer works. Putting it simply, religion is founded on a view of the cosmos. that view constantly changes. In the 1500's Copernicus and Galileo faced heresy charges for suggesting that the earth revolved around the sun rather than the other way around. Our Judeo-Christian-Islamic cosmic model dates from about 1500 BC when the book we call the bible was being put together. It postulated a Bronze age cosmos, a flat earth, an earth centered universe, to just name a few. Christianity and islam added their own myths. Laws set down in the Mosaic books of the Bible, the New Testament and the Quran reflect that world view of Bronze age 1500BC. Well it served its purpose , although Greek thinkers circa 400 BC, Islamic scholars circa 1000AD and the European renaissance began to point out its flaws. Darwin created panic in 1860 that's still being debated. The fact of the matter our view, our mythology doesn't work anymore. Its 4500 years behind the times. And as fundamentalists Christian, Muslim and Jewish are faced with this, they panic. They panic into fear. The very life of their God is at stake, their souls at risk. Hence all the hullabaloo about literal interpretation of the holy books. The holy books are not wrong, they are outdated. Religion creates dogma and dogma can't change.
Our understanding of the cosmos grows daily, it always will. It will always approach God, but never get to him, because God as i understand him is not understandable. We will never understand the whole of god, because the whole of god is always in motion. It brings to mind a Lakota(Sioux) phrase for god, Skan Taku Skan Skan. Something in motion always in motion. Sceince does not not shatter my faith in god, it only increases the awe I have for this ever expanding, ever changing cosmos we call God. Holy men come and go, religions change, but they never "get it' and probably never will. Even if we invent anew religion, write a new holy book, it will be obsolete before its printed.
I have always been interested in man's evolution. The concept given to me in the 50's is no longer a working model. Discoveries like Lucy(australopithecus afarensis) and Ardi(ardipithecus ramidus) have given new direction to our past. As a child I corresponded with Louis Leakey( the premier paleontologist of the 50's) He was right about a few things and wrong about somethings. I still admire him. He was a seeker.His explanation of human evolution fit the 1950's, based on the knowledge we had. Leakey accepted new discoveries and was comfortable with the progress, even though some of his calls were off. Religion must take the stand of Louis Leakey and be thankful when discoveries are made to increase our knowledge and closeness to god.
Grace Slick said in Go Ask Alice, "Feed your head"
Have a great Thanksgiving with your family and friends, but remember Thanksgiving day should be every day.

The Sarah Palin Phenomenon

"Going Rogue",Palin's autobiography is out now in print. I'm certainly not going to spend, even the $4.95 that some conservative sites are offering. Actually, I would have prefered the book be entitled "Going Away". But Sarah doesn't seem to be going away. I've read the reviews, most say she whines, complains,lies and takes pot shots at those who've pissed her off. One reviewer, filmaker John Ziegler says," I was simply blown away by Going Rogue on almost every level. For many reasons, this is by far the best book and greatest literary achievement by a political figure in my lifetime." At every level?? It has levels? Will this book stand side by side with JFK's book, with the writing of Thomas Jefferson and Abe Lincoln? Or has Mr. Ziegler got his hands on some new strain of cannabis that truly clouds the mind.
Sarah's not going away yet, that's for sure. Why is she so popular. Well, this is America so it must have something to do with the rich getting richer. She's in the news because she sells soap. Either you love her or loathe her, enough to click on every story CNN.com has out there and thus increasing her exposure. No one wants to read about Uyghur separatists or people starving in Africa. I believe the main reason Palin is so popular is that a lot of white Americans identify with her. White Americans who are under educated, white Americans who have a problem with an African American president, white Americans who can't think for themselves and let Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh do their thinking. Christian conservatives who find, with each new scientific advance, their world crumbles. Its very similar to the fundamentalist Islamic view of an antiquated belief system. Many Americans find this, coupled with fears of terrorism,oil shortages, Hispanic and Asian migration, global pollution,the electronics explosion,in fact the rapidly changing world, scares the crap out of them. Conservatives, using the politics of division and hate, prey on these lost souls. If all you listen to is Fox news and Rush Limbaugh, your'e going to have a very different outlook on world affairs than someone who investigates and takes in all sides to make an educated choice.
These poor souls are terrified that all they have been taught to believe is going to collapse. The great Anglo Saxon race will be diluted by Hispanics, Asians and Blacks. Jesus isn't going to come again to restore the Anglos to their throne of domination. This is a back lash and they usually don't last long. These people are light years behind whats happening on the planet, but they vote. Even though the phenomenon is going to be short lived, look at the mess Hitler created in just 12 years. Be afraid, America, be very afraid

Did I hype it up too much?

I was a rather vocal and enthusiastic Obama supporter during the campaign. I saw the country become something very ugly in the Bush years, I feared for my income during the crash of 2008,I worried about the planets revenge for what have wrought here and and wondered all about declining oil supplies and agresstion in the Middle East. Obama seemed to understand. He said what I wanted to hear,ie: Change. Maybe back to the government of the people rather a government for sale to highest bidder. Hell, Halliburton sucked us dry, thanks, Dick! Obama has vision, I'll give him that. He knows whats needed. But he can't pull it quite off. His opposition, Republicans and big biz, are throwing massive amounts of dollars to buy their way. Health care is troubled because many legislators have been bought and paid for by the insurance lobby. The opposition continues to use fear and race to gain support of what I call the undereducated classes. So Obama's stymied.
Although he has vision, he may a problem either in choosing competancy or delegating authority. The performance of his cabinet has been lackluster. What's up in the west wing? Maybe nothing. Maybe I heard too much or not enough in the campaign, maybe after I heard what I wanted I stopped listening. Suffice it to say I am a bit disappointed. Is the Rovian fascist propaganda creeping into my brain? Or am I just greedy and want too much?
Granted, the whole national system is rotten,dilapidated,ineffective,bought and greedy. It's like a house that looks OK outside but is ridden with termite damage and ready to collapse. The financial crisis proved that. You'd have to build a completely new house, like Roosevelt. It's not that Obama ain't Roosevelt, it's congress and business that's different. Roosevelt was the closest thing to dictator we have ever had. Obama can't use that tactic as the Rovians have already painted him as a meglomaniacal anti christ.
Its a tough row to hoe, I wish him luck.

The growing kleptocracy

The more I read about such places as Azerbaijan,Romania,,Saddam's Iraq and various Central Asian Republics, the more I am beginning to understand what a kleptocracy is. Its what's beginning to happen to America. In Azerbaijan, you had to pay off the Aliyev family to do business. Haidar Aliyev auctioned off nation assets to make money. Thats just what the privatization means for our neocon friends. And what they sell off goes to 'family";Ie Halliburton/Cheney kinds of deals. That's why they're so afraid of government controls. They'll lose money. Halliburton et al, is rebuilding Iraq's infrastructure poorly and cheaply while making billions and the American infrastructure is rotting. You make more money on an government no bid contract and even more by using the cheapest materials. More money than you'd make, say, by rebuilding the World Trade Center in NY or New Orleans. They use American tax dollars as a means of making obscene profits rather than using it to help the people that pay the money. Enough money to buy legislators and still make obscene profits.
That,my friends, is a kleptocracy and it is so well developed that even the President of the US can't find a away around it. Congress and the executive branch are owned by lobbies who bribe them with gifts, cash and make campaign contributions. You can't get elected to national office without a lot of money and the lobbies have it.
It will only get worse as will the divide between rich and poor. That's what the American conservative middle class doesn't understand, that they are on the losing side of the divide. If the neocons won't pump money into their own country, if they want to end entitlements like social security,if they won't vote for extending unemployment benefits is a recession, etc, they don't give a damned about America. They're already planning to move to Dubai.

An American apocalypse

Even with Barak Obama as president and a democratic congress, my local VA hospital does not yet have H1N1 vaccine, yet Walgreen's happily has it for SALE. The capitalist greed wins even during a liberal administration. Health care and environmental issues that will be passed will be so watered down as to be ineffective. The dems will settle for a healthcare bill that cares for no ones health. Insurance companies have spent millions to stop it. The system has broken. It no longer represents the will of the people, it represents, no matter what party, the will of corporate America.
Corporate America has already shown its utter irresponsibility and greed by precipitating what is now being called the "Great Recession" Jobs lost, savings lost,fat cats bailed out. American government in action. Rebuild Iraq(with shoddy materials) and ignore New Orleans. The military shares its bailiwick with Blackwater, Halliburton(or a subsidiary) gets most no bid contracts. Obama can't impliment his vision. Our America is gone. Sold,bought and paid for. Religion has degenerated into hate, salvation forgotten. Jesus' love and peace has morphed into a Neo Aryan creed of supremacy. And those supremacists know if they don,t get total control soon, birthrates will deprive them of a nation.
What's going to happen? Since the fat cats can't control their greed, they'll bleed us dry. Already infrastructures are crumbling and why rebuild them? They'll just use the same shoddy materials their using in Iraq. The working poor will lose more jobs to India or Malaysia and as government reigns in entitlements like social security, they will starve. Who cares, they are disposible, non contributors,parasites. Parasites we create more of everyday. Formerly America's proud and strong working class, they are reduced to discontented haters of everything, thanks to the twists that been added to Christianity in America. Hate is preached from the pulpit. Corporate America is concerned with oil, not this nation. Without oil, they collapse and no one seems to be inventing a new energy too quick.
The image I get of America in 10 or 15 years, is beginning to resemble the sates and satellites of the former Soviet Union in the late 80's and early 90's. Perhaps America's strength will cause it to survive,perhaps the working poor will abandon their slavish pursuit of republican ideals, perhaps a leader will emerge to save America from a third world scrape heap. Of course, he'll have to be a dictator.