Historians write about the past and try to bring understanding to bear on current actions ala Santayana’s dictum.
Futurists attempt to predict the future to enlarge understanding of possibilities our progeny and our descendants may face.
Looking at today’s world and tracking the events and the powers that have brought us to where we are to provide a platform from which to scan the future, historians and futurists may reasonably conclude that, aside from natural phenomena, even those brought on by man’s actions on earth, weapons of war are certainly among the instruments that will determine mankind’s future on earth if not the key instruments in creating that future.
From rocks and clubs, through the ages of spears and swords and bows and arrows, and then explosive powder used in myriad manners and forms from simple destructive explosions through sophisticated machine guns with huge fire-power and cannons throwing explosive projectiles many miles with deadly accuracy and smart bombs that can penetrate the toughest barriers delivered by aircraft and rockets, up to today’s atomic bombs capable of immeasurable devastation of life and property, we see the growth of control of events and people through weaponry.
Where are we going?
India and Pakistan, each with huge hungry populations, created and maintain, at huge cost, atomic weaponry. In Darfur, rape, maiming, and murder are carried out by men with weapons who themselves come from hungry families. Gaza, destroyed by Israel in retaliation for rocket fire aimed at the civilian population by Hamas, a terrorist group that seized control of the impoverished Strip that is now being fed weaponry rather than food or the tools of reconstruction by sympathetic militaristic regimes in Syria and Iran.
The United States spends a fifth of its annual budget on the military and that is only a part of what is spent on personal arms in the country. Winchester, Colt, Garand, and other arms-makers names have been around for a century-and-a-half and still going strong. Aircraft and ships of war abound. Tanks and trucks, atom bombs and rockets, small arms and weaponry and ammunition of all kinds abound. And these weapons are made available to allies and others around the world, some illegally. All the nations of the world are armed and prepared for war, offensive or defensive, internal and over their borders.
We are going to war. That’s where we are going. That is mankind’s future. Bloodshed and violence will be the leitmotif of so-called “Civilization.”
Why? Because there’s money in it! Lots of money!!
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Friday, May 29, 2009
WEALTH vs. TERROR
PREPARE FOR SUICIDE BOMBINGS
In this era of unconventional warfare, the use of human bombs has become common. Though generally motivated by religious zealotry accompanied by low intelligence or extreme belief, the suicide bombers are motivated by family monetary need in equal measure. It can reasonably be assumed that the greater the poverty in the world, the more common suicide bombing will become.
Unscrupulous leaders of hatred will more and more utilize this reservoir of highly effective bombs to achieve their mission of terror – the destruction and murder of civilians and civilian properties. Therefore, a war on poverty is equally a war against terror. And a war on poverty will in all likelihood reduce the numbers of hatred groups and hatred leaders.
These unproven yet logical assumptions may penetrate the corridors of political power through the benefits that reduction in destruction may bring to power elites and their wealth and property. For example, a reduction in air travel was reversed when an increase in airport surveillance was initiated by governments. The government of Israel has foiled terrorist plots through the extensive use of Arab intelligence operators feeding information to the intelligence apparatus in return for Israel monetarily feeding Arab civilians and raising their standard of living.
A comparison can also be made between terror in wealthy nations compared with the incidence of terror in poorer nations. Terror is hugely common in the Muslim world where the per capita income is significantly lower than Christian nations where terror is almost non-existent. A measure of the increase in terror incidents in wealthy nations shows the direct correlation with the increase in low-income immigrant communities, often Muslim.
So the answer to terror is, MAKE THE PEOPLE WEALTHIER!
In this era of unconventional warfare, the use of human bombs has become common. Though generally motivated by religious zealotry accompanied by low intelligence or extreme belief, the suicide bombers are motivated by family monetary need in equal measure. It can reasonably be assumed that the greater the poverty in the world, the more common suicide bombing will become.
Unscrupulous leaders of hatred will more and more utilize this reservoir of highly effective bombs to achieve their mission of terror – the destruction and murder of civilians and civilian properties. Therefore, a war on poverty is equally a war against terror. And a war on poverty will in all likelihood reduce the numbers of hatred groups and hatred leaders.
These unproven yet logical assumptions may penetrate the corridors of political power through the benefits that reduction in destruction may bring to power elites and their wealth and property. For example, a reduction in air travel was reversed when an increase in airport surveillance was initiated by governments. The government of Israel has foiled terrorist plots through the extensive use of Arab intelligence operators feeding information to the intelligence apparatus in return for Israel monetarily feeding Arab civilians and raising their standard of living.
A comparison can also be made between terror in wealthy nations compared with the incidence of terror in poorer nations. Terror is hugely common in the Muslim world where the per capita income is significantly lower than Christian nations where terror is almost non-existent. A measure of the increase in terror incidents in wealthy nations shows the direct correlation with the increase in low-income immigrant communities, often Muslim.
So the answer to terror is, MAKE THE PEOPLE WEALTHIER!
Monday, May 25, 2009
ANTI-SEMITISM RE-VISITED
ANTI-SEMITISM REVISITED FOR UNDERSTANDING
Why anti-Semitism? Why the hatred of the Jews with no foundation for the hatred? Hatred taught at home in childhood is understandable. But hatred learned in adulthood simply to be part of whatever group it is that hates Jews is less understandable. Why not hate monkeys or apples or skyscrapers? Simply, they are not people. You can’t elevate yourself by hating apples or monkeys, now can you? Join a group that hates any group of people and you then “belong” easily. No questions asked about why you are a Nazi or a member of the John Birch Society or a WASP who can’t stand the smell of Jews. Or maybe you belong to a group that hates the Christ killers.
Or maybe you are a Muslim and your Koran tells you to despise and kill Jews. Perhaps you are Arab or an Arab sympathizer who hates Jews because they wrongfully claim biblical lands as their ancestral home and the State of Israel has stolen Arab land for its nationhood. And you claim to not be an anti-Semite but just think the Jews have committed a crime and should be punished by death and annihilation.
On the other hand, the Nobel Peace Prize committee, without any Jews on board, seems to be in love with Jews, having awarded them a disproportionate number of prizes out of all relationship to their numbers on earth for having brought benefits and good to mankind. And there is no earthly endeavor for which Jews have not earned honor and respect, almost, for achievements in advancing knowledge and the quality of life for humankind.
But, “Let’s Kill the Jews,” because they own the banks, control the earth’s governments, propagandize through their mass ownership of news media, and their numerous doctors kill Christian babies in their hospitals and homes to harvest their blood to drink on their Passover holiday. The People of the Book are hated for teaching their children to read in places where non-Jewish homes raise fatherless children in drug infested neighborhoods where not a dime is spent on a book or even a newspaper. The Jews are exploiting Us by their reading, their learning, their educational drive and humanistic values. We hate them for keeping us down-trodden while showing off their easily-gained wealth.
There seems to be no society on earth that is not ready to kill Jews. The downward slide of humanity into an abyss of killing, ignorance, poverty, illness, and despair, starts with the killing of Jews and people who resemble them. It starts with the killing of the intelligentsia, the learned, the hard-working, the wealthy, the caring, the humanistic, the tolerant and accepting followers of the Ten Commandments, the Jews and the people like them.
When any human being becomes educated by killing another, the downward slide will stop and humanity will start climbing out of the feces with which it has covered itself. On that day, killing another will be an act of God. And it will show that God does indeed not exist.
Why anti-Semitism? Why the hatred of the Jews with no foundation for the hatred? Hatred taught at home in childhood is understandable. But hatred learned in adulthood simply to be part of whatever group it is that hates Jews is less understandable. Why not hate monkeys or apples or skyscrapers? Simply, they are not people. You can’t elevate yourself by hating apples or monkeys, now can you? Join a group that hates any group of people and you then “belong” easily. No questions asked about why you are a Nazi or a member of the John Birch Society or a WASP who can’t stand the smell of Jews. Or maybe you belong to a group that hates the Christ killers.
Or maybe you are a Muslim and your Koran tells you to despise and kill Jews. Perhaps you are Arab or an Arab sympathizer who hates Jews because they wrongfully claim biblical lands as their ancestral home and the State of Israel has stolen Arab land for its nationhood. And you claim to not be an anti-Semite but just think the Jews have committed a crime and should be punished by death and annihilation.
On the other hand, the Nobel Peace Prize committee, without any Jews on board, seems to be in love with Jews, having awarded them a disproportionate number of prizes out of all relationship to their numbers on earth for having brought benefits and good to mankind. And there is no earthly endeavor for which Jews have not earned honor and respect, almost, for achievements in advancing knowledge and the quality of life for humankind.
But, “Let’s Kill the Jews,” because they own the banks, control the earth’s governments, propagandize through their mass ownership of news media, and their numerous doctors kill Christian babies in their hospitals and homes to harvest their blood to drink on their Passover holiday. The People of the Book are hated for teaching their children to read in places where non-Jewish homes raise fatherless children in drug infested neighborhoods where not a dime is spent on a book or even a newspaper. The Jews are exploiting Us by their reading, their learning, their educational drive and humanistic values. We hate them for keeping us down-trodden while showing off their easily-gained wealth.
There seems to be no society on earth that is not ready to kill Jews. The downward slide of humanity into an abyss of killing, ignorance, poverty, illness, and despair, starts with the killing of Jews and people who resemble them. It starts with the killing of the intelligentsia, the learned, the hard-working, the wealthy, the caring, the humanistic, the tolerant and accepting followers of the Ten Commandments, the Jews and the people like them.
When any human being becomes educated by killing another, the downward slide will stop and humanity will start climbing out of the feces with which it has covered itself. On that day, killing another will be an act of God. And it will show that God does indeed not exist.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
SOMALIA 2009 - HOW AND WHY RELIGION WORKS
Somalia is being torn apart by religious factions using all the factionalism of that primitive country. Today's New York Times article (May 24, 2009)by Jeffrey Gettleman on the destruction taking place there covers several columns. Only one sentence in the article explains the "Why?" of it.
Peaceful clans, tribes, religious orders, are now engaged in savage total warfare. Jihad against fellow Muslims. The weapons and transportation and training are being supplied from ???? and by ???? These once peaceful poorly educated and poorly fed people are out there with expensive weapons drawing blood from their mirror images. They are chopping off hands and heads with religious zeal, motivation, and righteousness.
How did this happen? How did Darfur, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and all the others happen? Where were these people before they were transformed into religious murderers and by whom were they transformed into religious murderers?
Here's the sentence, the revelation, the rational and motivation for all wars.
"The Sufis, a loosely organized religious brotherhood, also drawing from many different clans, had studiously avoided getting gummed up in Somalia's back-and-forth clan battles, OFTEN NO MORE THAN THIN COVER FOR POWER STRUGGLES BETWEEN BUSINESSMEN AND WARLORDS."
All wars have an economic base and motivation. Perhaps Dick Cheney, former vice-president of the United States, having met with a cabal of oil company magnates, exploiting the ignoramus president George W. Bush and his jingoistic mentality, led the United States into war in Iraq utilizing a THIN COVER for businessmen AND warlords to reap huge profits, the true goal of the war.
Peaceful clans, tribes, religious orders, are now engaged in savage total warfare. Jihad against fellow Muslims. The weapons and transportation and training are being supplied from ???? and by ???? These once peaceful poorly educated and poorly fed people are out there with expensive weapons drawing blood from their mirror images. They are chopping off hands and heads with religious zeal, motivation, and righteousness.
How did this happen? How did Darfur, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and all the others happen? Where were these people before they were transformed into religious murderers and by whom were they transformed into religious murderers?
Here's the sentence, the revelation, the rational and motivation for all wars.
"The Sufis, a loosely organized religious brotherhood, also drawing from many different clans, had studiously avoided getting gummed up in Somalia's back-and-forth clan battles, OFTEN NO MORE THAN THIN COVER FOR POWER STRUGGLES BETWEEN BUSINESSMEN AND WARLORDS."
All wars have an economic base and motivation. Perhaps Dick Cheney, former vice-president of the United States, having met with a cabal of oil company magnates, exploiting the ignoramus president George W. Bush and his jingoistic mentality, led the United States into war in Iraq utilizing a THIN COVER for businessmen AND warlords to reap huge profits, the true goal of the war.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
INFINITY vs. BEGINNING and ENDING
INFINITY - WHY and WHY NOT?
An assumption has been made based on research performed by a variety of scientists that in the beginning, the universe came into being by a Big Bang. An assumption also exists that after a huge amount of time and a reverse process to the Big Bang, the universe will probably cease to exist.
I am not a scientist. I am a thinker.
I think that science is not able to accept the concept of infinity. It talks a good line about it but the utility of the concept seems to escape them. Playing with numbers and even generally with time is the closest that science (scientists) comes to accepting infinity's existence. The very definition of the word does not find meaning for them.
By accepting infinity's existence, one can readily accept the fact that there is not nor was any begininng to what we call everything, namely, the universe. And we can also easily accept the fact that there will be no end to everything.
The form of things certainly changes. The speed of things changes. The power - however measured - changes. The universe changes. And those changes may or may not be observable, measurable, understood, and believed. The forms of things are infinite.
But, there never was a beginning nor will there be an end. We are in infinity. We are in a form and the universe is in a form, that is observable, measurable, and understood, at this place and time of infinity. We can imagine other forms and other places and other times, but we cannot prove that they existed outside of now or infinity.
An assumption has been made based on research performed by a variety of scientists that in the beginning, the universe came into being by a Big Bang. An assumption also exists that after a huge amount of time and a reverse process to the Big Bang, the universe will probably cease to exist.
I am not a scientist. I am a thinker.
I think that science is not able to accept the concept of infinity. It talks a good line about it but the utility of the concept seems to escape them. Playing with numbers and even generally with time is the closest that science (scientists) comes to accepting infinity's existence. The very definition of the word does not find meaning for them.
By accepting infinity's existence, one can readily accept the fact that there is not nor was any begininng to what we call everything, namely, the universe. And we can also easily accept the fact that there will be no end to everything.
The form of things certainly changes. The speed of things changes. The power - however measured - changes. The universe changes. And those changes may or may not be observable, measurable, understood, and believed. The forms of things are infinite.
But, there never was a beginning nor will there be an end. We are in infinity. We are in a form and the universe is in a form, that is observable, measurable, and understood, at this place and time of infinity. We can imagine other forms and other places and other times, but we cannot prove that they existed outside of now or infinity.
Saturday, May 16, 2009
IN THE BEGINNING - WHO?
IN THE BEGINNING
“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.”
Just as there is no God other than in the minds of mankind, there is no “beginning” other than in the minds of mankind.
A good revelatory opening sentence to this book of religious chicanery might be, “In the beginning of mankind’s mental capacity, Man created God and Man claimed that God created the beginning and in that “beginning” He created what Man saw as the totality of existence, “the heavens and the earth.”
Now, believers and non-believers, scientists of all stripes and all fields of study and religionists of the world whose power resides in the obeisance of believers, all are searching for “The Beginning.” They are searching for some event in some moment of time – as time is defined by common agreement – that will makes sense of the creation of the universe scientifically and theologically.
It is a nonsensical search. The beginning of time and the beginning of the universe must occur simultaneously because of the mind of man and the limitations that religion and science place on the mind of man based on the meaning of words and language. The word, “beginning” will have a different meaning denotatively – and subsequently connotatively – at every endless step of the way to finding the beginning of the universe.
Perhaps a new word will come into existence that will define a non-beginning based on an eternal existence, an infinite existence, of the “beginning” of the universe as a “point in time that is infinite,” and therefore not a “point” in time. This new word cannot stray far from the existential meanings of words in existing languages.
My suggestion for this word or phrase, embedded in the first sentence of the new Book of Genesis, is; genesis (the origin or coming into being of something.)
The opening line of the bible and the opening line in scientific texts on how the universe was created would then read, “In the Genesis, man created God and man said that God created the Genesis of the universe. The bible and the scientific texts could then comfortably take their different paths to exploring the genesis of the universe.
“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.”
Just as there is no God other than in the minds of mankind, there is no “beginning” other than in the minds of mankind.
A good revelatory opening sentence to this book of religious chicanery might be, “In the beginning of mankind’s mental capacity, Man created God and Man claimed that God created the beginning and in that “beginning” He created what Man saw as the totality of existence, “the heavens and the earth.”
Now, believers and non-believers, scientists of all stripes and all fields of study and religionists of the world whose power resides in the obeisance of believers, all are searching for “The Beginning.” They are searching for some event in some moment of time – as time is defined by common agreement – that will makes sense of the creation of the universe scientifically and theologically.
It is a nonsensical search. The beginning of time and the beginning of the universe must occur simultaneously because of the mind of man and the limitations that religion and science place on the mind of man based on the meaning of words and language. The word, “beginning” will have a different meaning denotatively – and subsequently connotatively – at every endless step of the way to finding the beginning of the universe.
Perhaps a new word will come into existence that will define a non-beginning based on an eternal existence, an infinite existence, of the “beginning” of the universe as a “point in time that is infinite,” and therefore not a “point” in time. This new word cannot stray far from the existential meanings of words in existing languages.
My suggestion for this word or phrase, embedded in the first sentence of the new Book of Genesis, is; genesis (the origin or coming into being of something.)
The opening line of the bible and the opening line in scientific texts on how the universe was created would then read, “In the Genesis, man created God and man said that God created the Genesis of the universe. The bible and the scientific texts could then comfortably take their different paths to exploring the genesis of the universe.
Sunday, May 10, 2009
A TWO-STATE SOLUTION?
The Judgment of Solomon
The saying is based upon the Biblical passage in 1 Kings 3:16-28, where two new mothers approach Solomon, bringing with them one dead baby boy. Each mother presents the same story and accusation: She and the other woman live together and have both recently given birth to baby boys. One night, soon after the birth of their respective boys, the other woman woke to find that she had smothered her own baby in her sleep. In anguish and jealousy, she took her dead son and exchanged it with the other's child. The following morning, the woman discovered the dead baby, and soon realized that it was not her own son, but the other woman's.
After some deliberation, King Solomon calls for a sword to be brought before him. He declares that there is only one fair solution: the live son must be split in two, each woman receiving half of the child. Upon hearing this terrible verdict, the boy's true mother cries out, "Please, My Lord, give her the live child - do not kill him!" However, the liar, in her bitter jealousy, exclaims, "It shall be neither mine nor yours - divide it!" Solomon instantly gives the live baby to the real mother, realizing that the true mother's instincts were to protect her child, while the liar revealed that she did not truly love the child.
Solomon by his wisdom avoids the destruction of the subject matter of the dispute (the baby). There is no reason to believe that destruction was ever his intent
Today the world is looking at a similar enigma involving two Peoples; the Palestinian People and the Jewish People. The land from the Mediterranean Sea to the Jordan River is coveted by both Peoples. More to the point, the Jewish People lives under the death threat of the Arab – and Persian – world. The Palestinians have been and are supported in their wish to drive the Jews into the sea by the inhabitants of the world of Islam. That world is actively training the martyrs who will attempt to carry out the annihilation. The Nazi Holocaust that destroyed over six million Jews is to be partially completed by the Muslim destruction of the State of Israel’s Jewish population. So, despite that destruction, the Jewish People will continue to live and bring benefit to the world as they have for all the millennia of their existence.
Enter Barack Obama, the new president of the United States. Wielding the tremendous power of his powerful country, he will be sitting on Solomon’s throne. Will he find in judgment the benefit of cutting the coveted land in half? This Holy Land that gave birth to the Hebrew nations and the Jewish People was occupied by Jewish religionists for five thousand years and prayed to by the Jewish People in their Diasporas that they would return to the Land in the coming year. Will Obama convince the world’s nations that peace will be achieved only by giving to the Arab peoples another swath of the Holy Land similarly to Winston Churchill’s chopping off the major portion of the Jews’ ancient land to establish a Bedouin Kingdom of Trans-Jordan.
And if a comparison is made between what the two Peoples have done on their divided shares of territory, a sad conclusion must be reached that poverty, disease, lack of education, exploitation of the poor, primitiveness in all aspects of daily life have permeated the Muslim sections while the benefits of and to modernity and a better world emanate from the Jewish State.
So where is the benefit of a Two-State Solution to the Middle East conflict, the benefit of slicing the land in half? Jews cannot live in peace in the Muslim world. They must live in constant fear for their very lives. Arabs who are native to the Palestinian territories may live in peace in Israel and enjoy better health, a higher standard of living, education, and equality founded on acceptance of Israel’s right to exist. This would be the modern Judgment of Solomon.
Are you listening, Barack Obama?
The saying is based upon the Biblical passage in 1 Kings 3:16-28, where two new mothers approach Solomon, bringing with them one dead baby boy. Each mother presents the same story and accusation: She and the other woman live together and have both recently given birth to baby boys. One night, soon after the birth of their respective boys, the other woman woke to find that she had smothered her own baby in her sleep. In anguish and jealousy, she took her dead son and exchanged it with the other's child. The following morning, the woman discovered the dead baby, and soon realized that it was not her own son, but the other woman's.
After some deliberation, King Solomon calls for a sword to be brought before him. He declares that there is only one fair solution: the live son must be split in two, each woman receiving half of the child. Upon hearing this terrible verdict, the boy's true mother cries out, "Please, My Lord, give her the live child - do not kill him!" However, the liar, in her bitter jealousy, exclaims, "It shall be neither mine nor yours - divide it!" Solomon instantly gives the live baby to the real mother, realizing that the true mother's instincts were to protect her child, while the liar revealed that she did not truly love the child.
Solomon by his wisdom avoids the destruction of the subject matter of the dispute (the baby). There is no reason to believe that destruction was ever his intent
Today the world is looking at a similar enigma involving two Peoples; the Palestinian People and the Jewish People. The land from the Mediterranean Sea to the Jordan River is coveted by both Peoples. More to the point, the Jewish People lives under the death threat of the Arab – and Persian – world. The Palestinians have been and are supported in their wish to drive the Jews into the sea by the inhabitants of the world of Islam. That world is actively training the martyrs who will attempt to carry out the annihilation. The Nazi Holocaust that destroyed over six million Jews is to be partially completed by the Muslim destruction of the State of Israel’s Jewish population. So, despite that destruction, the Jewish People will continue to live and bring benefit to the world as they have for all the millennia of their existence.
Enter Barack Obama, the new president of the United States. Wielding the tremendous power of his powerful country, he will be sitting on Solomon’s throne. Will he find in judgment the benefit of cutting the coveted land in half? This Holy Land that gave birth to the Hebrew nations and the Jewish People was occupied by Jewish religionists for five thousand years and prayed to by the Jewish People in their Diasporas that they would return to the Land in the coming year. Will Obama convince the world’s nations that peace will be achieved only by giving to the Arab peoples another swath of the Holy Land similarly to Winston Churchill’s chopping off the major portion of the Jews’ ancient land to establish a Bedouin Kingdom of Trans-Jordan.
And if a comparison is made between what the two Peoples have done on their divided shares of territory, a sad conclusion must be reached that poverty, disease, lack of education, exploitation of the poor, primitiveness in all aspects of daily life have permeated the Muslim sections while the benefits of and to modernity and a better world emanate from the Jewish State.
So where is the benefit of a Two-State Solution to the Middle East conflict, the benefit of slicing the land in half? Jews cannot live in peace in the Muslim world. They must live in constant fear for their very lives. Arabs who are native to the Palestinian territories may live in peace in Israel and enjoy better health, a higher standard of living, education, and equality founded on acceptance of Israel’s right to exist. This would be the modern Judgment of Solomon.
Are you listening, Barack Obama?
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