Global climate catastrophe may, indeed, bring the end times for humanity. The Earth will survive but billions of humans may not.
Israel and Palestine are pawns in the wars for control of access to the petroleum and gas fields of the entire Middle East. The continued extraction and burning of fossil fuels will accelerate climate catastrophe. That may also be part of the Zionists’ plan.
>>"Israel and Palestine are pawns in the wars for control of access to the petroleum and gas fields of the entire Middle East."
YES! Unfortunately, due to extreme levels of propaganda and narratives, most people don't realize this.
At the end of the day, for the U.S. Empire it's about control (and monopoly) of resources and maintenance of U.S. Dollar hegemony. I would extend your statement to include ALL MENA countries as pawns on the geopolitical chessboard.
How true. Libya, Syria, Iraq, Gaza gas fields (yet to be developed), Iran, on the table, eyeing off Venezuela (1000 years of reserves...USA, only 8 years) and on it goes.
Nonsense. Saddam would have been delighted to sell all the hydrocarbons he could pump freely for dollars on world markets. The United States did not allow him to do so. For that matter, Iran also would like to be able to do this.
Saddam did offer/threaten to do that. The US oil magnates feared that would drive down oil prices and their profits.
Russia has also threatened to do the same.
Nevertheless, continued extraction and burning of fossil fuels, and/or their conversion into plastics threaten the prolonged existence of humans and other life forms.
Just like politicians on COVID, or climate change, or the US debt. "No, dude -- that one's totally REAL, man! We're all gonna go belly up IN FIVE YEARS!!" I've noticed it's never "in one year" or "in a hundred years".
This is the point VIN. A culture has grown up especially in the USA where having 'things and having fun' is more important than thinking clearly.
Toqueville pointed this out many times.
A lot of Arabic countries are showing us another side of Religion.
Hezbollah are the actual people feeding the poor and starving, not dissimilar to the Houthis and of course Iran which does not want a Nuclear weapon. None of these people believe in killing civilians. But we in the West want to bomb bomb bomb.
In Flint, there is an annual Day of Giving presented by the Muslim community. They offer to Flint’s largely Black poor, everything you can think of. There are doctors present to perform cursory medical exams. There are pantry staples, household goods, school supplies for children.
It’s a huge event and I’ve yet to hear of any “Christian” churches doing something similar.
Islam was already the fastest growing religion before Oct 7, and in the past year and a half the number of people converting to Islam has increased at an even higher percentage. Myself, I was Muslim before but became much closer to my faith since the genocide. For Palestinians in Gaza, their faith is just about all they have left and it keeps them going. They inspire me, as does Yemen.
However, I have designated my farm as an Amerikkka-free zone and any ICE personnel who have the stupidity of visiting here will be met with the business end of the thirty-ought-six (but damn , does that thing kick!)
There are many doing the same in the UK (or did anyway); but the Globalist scum are trying to divide us along racial, creed or colour lines.... it seems to have worked in the US (who are more insular ?), but not so well in the UK; so what did they do ?: mass immigration, false flags and real stuff - bombings, murders, rapes etc - same as in the EU. Christ - even I fall for it sometimes.
Moment you say " bomb bomb bomb", Jenny, an image of John McCain unfortunately forms in my head.
Churches in the West, in general are too rich -- I've been ragging on the Catholic church in Rome since I was a kid, for example. And in our local parish, it was always a focus on money that we guttersnipe kids would parody, crapping on the monsignor who couldn't step up to that pulpit without a ka-ching. But yes, in the US, the megachurches carried it to the extreme -- because American "culture" has fabricated methodologies for carrying everything involving consumption to an extreme.
Not by the title, gyp, but I just listened to it and yes, it came right back to me. Always the music that's my prime trigger. Good stuff. Thanks.
And I'd wager that the pope might own a good chunk of Blackrock too. No way to know in this secret seedy world of oligarch finance. Only assurance is that it's a club that you and I ain't likely to be members in.
Saw JJ at the Fillmore East circa 1968. Gotta be one of the most amazing concerts in my memory. She was impossible to exhaust -- I think the word is indefatigable. The voice, energy, sweat. No one like her as a performer.
The Fillmore, the darkness, enough light to see a couple feet, aroma of cannabis strong in the air, low buzzing in the audience. And then, the first blasts from her band, lights up on stage, curtains fly open, spots on Janis, there she is. But I can't recall what song she did first, only that the first note into her handheld mike blew the lid off the place and everyone was on their feet cheering. Stoned out of their minds. It was liberating.
I recall an image of her placing flowers on the grave of Bessie Smith. She was hip to her roots. Bessie and other blues singers of that era would sing at tent revival meetings so the experience you describe is also perhaps rooted in that lineage.
Janis definitely appreciated her roots in that tradition, and I think I recall reading that when she was a kid, she listened hard to that earlier generation of blues singers. But ultimately, something unique did emerge, I think.
Only die-hard SongChasers and the flat-out fortunate seekers, lovers of small indie theater and playwriting along with close observers of Dylan's Rolling Thunder\Blunder (thanks Arlo Guthrie for alt name) Revue circa 1975-78 will have any idea who Bobby Neuwirth was, although his few and far between albums on the Global Monopoly labels gave way to indie labels recorded on the sheqels of his close friends among the SongChaser communities of North America's regional pockets of bardic tradition.
I became a Christian later in life and I couldn’t agree more. It’s completely shameful and destroys our witness to the non-violence and peacemaking advocated by Christ. The hypocrisy is appalling. You have more courage and desire for justice than majority of Christians I know. Something deeply broken with Christianity in the West
The lack of any action in relation to Biden from his church in Delaware made it very obvious to al that the Pope is controlled by big business as well.
Everyone could have seen a benefit in a visit by the Pope to Palestine recently...but No. Could have made a serious difference, in my opinion, on public opinion alone. Undoubted.
Sorry. I forgot that Palestinians are not Christians.
All this should be completely obvious to anyone who has ever pursued even briefly some sort of spiritual life or understanding. That would almost by definition exclude most Americans, enculturated as we are by grasping hyper-competitive capitalist indoctrination and "values." All a person needs to do to show him/her how spiritually vacuous the core values of American culture really are is pay a little attention to Donald Trump and Elon Musk, what they represent and how they behave. If that doesn't do it, you really aren't paying attention.
Abe got up in the morning and asked his son Isaac hey get up and get dressed because we are going out? Sarah (Abraham's bitch) goes where the hello you taking Isaac? Abraham said, I am taking him up the mountain and going to cut his head off. Sarah called 911 and put the SOB in jail ...
LOL. It shows the insanity of these people and also how they have been indoctrinated into a cult of murder. Christianity was a fabulous concept. Too bad the evil and the ignorant took it over.
DAWN has urged the ICC prosecutor to investigate and prosecute former President Biden, State Secretary Blinken and Defense Secretary Austin for their personal roles in aiding and abetting Israeli war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide in Gaza as part of his ongoing investigation into the situations in Palestine since 2014.
Let’s give them our support. Maybe they will expand their complaint to include this latest US administration, and include all the leaders of the western nations supporting this genocide.
Sadly I don't. After fifty years of trying to open peoples' eyes I sometimes get weary and too cynical. I grew up with WWII vets as my role models. The ones who died certainly didn't die to support this abomination of what they call justice. I have no answers as to where it went wrong and how to fix it now. You are right though. All we can do is keep trying.
Only 50 years? I've been trying since I was 14, and I'm 80 now, so I know how lonely this has been. I will keep grasping for any and all straws. One doesn't know which or what will be the one that breaks this genocidal camel's back.
Before I could finish reading the first few books of the Old Testament, I was convinced to drop religion. The Gita wasn't any better. Religion is a human creation - thus the fallibility of it.
The philosophy of Christianity is beautiful. Too bad none of us follow or for that matter try to follow the life and love philosophy. If you had read the rest of the bible you would have seen the manipulation perpetrated by the writers to enforce their rule over humanity. While many tout freedom of religion there is no freedom in religion. It is all about subservience. and murder.
I agree very much. The teachings of Christ are beautiful; the later interpretations of those teachings are where the problems of Christianity arise. Surely Christ had no intention of founding a religion; I think he was more intent on reforming Judaism.
G.K. Chesterton had some acute observations on Christian philosophy:
"Jesus promised his disciples three things—that they would be completely fearless, absurdly happy, and in constant trouble."
"To love means loving the unlovable. To forgive means pardoning the unpardonable. Faith means believing the unbelievable. Hope means hoping when everything seems hopeless."
"Christianity has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and not tried."
I agree with you entirely. It isn't hard to pick out the parts that manipulate people into subservience. This is the part of "Faith" that requires you to forget about logic and critical thing and go forward blindly on "Faith" and unfortunately it appears many do.
Of course religion is a human creation. What else could it be?
The Old Testament is deeply tied to the attitudes of the Bronze Age (ca. 3000 BC - 1200 BC) and reflect the social attitudes of that time. The Bhagavad Gita is an excerpt from a larger work, the Mahabarata and best read in that context. However, the Mahabarata is huge. As an alternative, try reading some of the Upanishads, which are more concise. They are, as Eknath Easwaran, put it, Postcards from the Beyond. They are very rich! The translations by Easwaran are very good.
I think I would like the opportunity to read the Upanishads (as I've heard about it from several sources).
Do you know of any resources that make it EASIER to understand for ordinary & non-religious folk like me? (and in English too?) Are the Easwaran translations relatively accurate and self-understandable?
The translations by Easwaran are in English and also are accurate, as he was an Indian and also was fluent in Sanskrit. There is a helpful Introduction by Easwaran. The individual Upanishads are accompanied by commentary by another author, but personally I think the Upanishads speak better for themselves. The Easwaran edition is not expensive and includes the most central Upanishads. After that you can dig into the others as translated by other authors.
I taught a course that used the Easwaran translation of the Gita and that is how I became aquainted with his work. I think his work is a good place to start. You can look up used copies on Addall.com which is where I find a lot of books. Addall is a compiler of book sources, not a direct vendor.
You might look into Krishnamurti, who's teaching was often compared favorably to the Upanishads. I spent many years reading and trying to understand what he was "really" saying. Before he died in 1986 he had many discussions with the physicist David Bohm, who in many ways further illuminated what K was teaching from his background in physics. I attended some of K's teachings the year before he died. He was an extremely rare soul.
Most of these discussions can be found online, in videos and audios, plus there are many books on K and Bohm, with several others who took a keen interest in K's teachings. The Upanishads are so ancient (c. 800-300 BCE) and authorless (nobody knows who originally wrote them), that it can be helpful if the language is modernized, which K and Bohm provide, along with the others who participated in many discussions.
I think a re-read of the lasr chapter of the New Testament helps in understanding why there are so many so callrd Christian Zionist. They arent pro-Israel as much as they are wanting to bring back jesus to kill everyone that is not them and Jews taking over all of Greater Israel is a necessary part of having Jesus back.
I've tried to communicate for years that because humans are unavoidably limited and imperfect, that *any and all* beliefs we have about God (and literally everything else outside us, for that matter) are correspondingly unreliable.
Certain believers in God (evangelical Christians) that I've talked to think that, somehow, God cuts through this, so that only "truth" is received by the believer. But unless you're a god (whatever that is) yourself, how could you possibly know? Exhibit A: The thousands (or is it millions, or billions!) of incompatible belief schemes on earth.
Sometimes the force of the illogic (or "alternative logic") is, to me at least, simply jaw-dropping.
But my religion is the only true religion. It is all about love and peace. Therefore we must kill anyone who does not believe. God bless you brother. What? You don't agree? I'll kill you too Sounds perfectly logical to me!.
I have actually talked to people who think Israel is doing God's work. What ever happened to love thy neighbour / How about "Thou not kill?" Where in God's green earth is there any justification for murdering women and children? I would love to see the look on their faces when they stand before God and are sentenced to everlasting fire. Vengeance is mine said the Lord. I hope these pitiless bastards and their self righteous smugness suffer the most horrible fates imaginable.
Yes. They actually believe it is in Revelations in the Bible. Nor being a practicing Christian I have tried reading it and fail to make the connection.
If the international institutions have any meaning, and it is questionable for how long, we cannot allow Israel to escape the legal consequences of their war crimes. The Hind Rajab Foundation has, among other things, filed a case with the ICC against 1,000 Israeli soldiers for war crimes in Gaza.
They have taken further steps in recent days, and vacations are becoming a lot more difficult for IDF soldiers, worldwide. The Hind Rajab Foundation can use our help. Please join me in making a contribution.
To know more about The Hind Rajab Foundation, there are a couple of really good interviews that Glenn Greenwald did on his Rumble platform, and Ali Abunimah of the Electronic Intifada, did with the head of this organisation, Dyad Abou Jahjah. It was very informative.
Here's a petition calling for accountability for the arrest of Ali Abunimah in Switzerland for the crime of speaking about Palestinian rights::
Religious doctrine isn’t spiritual it’s the opposite, it’s made up by men. Sinead O’Conner was a modern prophet who dared tear up a photo of the Pope on live tv while saying, ‘fight the real enemy’. There are some who catch a glimpse of the actual teaching of Jesus who taught mostly that we are all One. The idea that there is any religious justification for the murder of others is absurd and yes, just plain gross.
Religion are the garments one wears over spirituality. In any religious belief system, one can find good and bad, and/or metaphors and myths for the big questions one naturally has in regards to reality and oneself.
One can find extremists with religious dogmatism that results in heinous actions, just as one can find extremists with secular dogmatism and secular atheists who also are quite capable of acts of evil.
Which is an example of what separates the "clothes" from the underlying spirituality/psyche underneath - that no matter what clothes you wear, be it religious or secular, the ever present psyche is still capable of good and bad.
Well, Laurie Z, we could do with some help from that One....."there is only one who is good"
If you have any close connections, ask him / her to intervene.... and soon. His highest ranking employee in Rome didn't think that a visit to Palestine to highlight the evils of Israeli murders, rapes, sniper killings, torture, sexual violence, bombing, starvation, was a worthwhile effort, so another possible opportunity went begging. (Never ever a possibility, really.) Could have ended the Israeli march to become the USA's Oil and Gas flag bearer and General Manager in the Middle East, soon to be located at the Trump Majestic Hotel on Trump Boulevard, Gaza (postcode not yet allocated)
One would therefore have to say that even the Vatican is complicit like the Western Governments. Everyone who could help, but refuses to, is complicit and those cunning Zionists know that clearly as they did with JFK, over the Israel Nuclear ambitions, telling the Zionistic Johnson in the USS Liberty scandal to call off life-saving help for the crew, and with 9/11 and the following fantasy investigation....and who knows how many others.
We can only assume therefore, that Israel's crimes are acceptable to that One, up there, or wherever. Certainly he must pardon and bless that arch criminal and multi murderer, the fervent Roman Catholic Biden every Sunday in Delaware, and overlook the daily crimes of the ego maniac Trump.
Very forgiving of him. Pity he wasn't more Christian.
My Latin has never been up to such tasks as merely expressing what every waking moment of this blessed\cursed life reinforces and can only loosely be outlined in our charming Anglo New World slang as "Da condition of da human condition...."
I've spent time making some effort beyond mere subsistence survival and been indoctrinated not entirely for the worst by the reductionists of in-spired Holy and Wholly Scriptures. Like the ol' joke says about human handwriting in any lingo, mostly looks like crushed insects....
What we do with all in-spiration is up to US. The world will reflect how up to such challenges we prove to be. Something tells me shrinking armies and blossoming co-operation with wider distribution of the necessities of life will be a reward that will likely have a punch-line and ironic twist to it. Lingering pleasant after-taste and spiritual after-life? Who knows....I keep brushing my teeth at night and when I arise for more humble and humbling results, reflections of what becomes of us that dust blew through here.........
Cancel the Terrorist State of Israel. There are Terrorist Command Centers in the U.S. Capital. They are called "Both sides of the Isle", Israel Slaves. Free Palestine. Free the USA from Zionists. There will be Peace when Israel is history.
No there won’t, there will never be peace because humans love war. We are killer apes, or at least, those best exemplifying that side of our nature have prevailed.
And so many claim that "we are in the End Times Israel ZOMG!" yet they sure lay up for themselves treasure on earth, all the same.
I actually deep a deep dive into the “end times” and found out that it’s NOT even biblical!
It’s a concept that the Roman church created so they could keep their power and control.
Yet, so many modern day Christian’s think it’s from God and it’s going to happen.
How religion is used to deceive the masses to uphold control: https://unorthodoxy.substack.com/p/the-shocking-truth-about-the-rapture
The "Roman church" wrote -- or I should say, constructed -- the Christian Bible, too.
Global climate catastrophe may, indeed, bring the end times for humanity. The Earth will survive but billions of humans may not.
Israel and Palestine are pawns in the wars for control of access to the petroleum and gas fields of the entire Middle East. The continued extraction and burning of fossil fuels will accelerate climate catastrophe. That may also be part of the Zionists’ plan.
>>"Israel and Palestine are pawns in the wars for control of access to the petroleum and gas fields of the entire Middle East."
YES! Unfortunately, due to extreme levels of propaganda and narratives, most people don't realize this.
At the end of the day, for the U.S. Empire it's about control (and monopoly) of resources and maintenance of U.S. Dollar hegemony. I would extend your statement to include ALL MENA countries as pawns on the geopolitical chessboard.
How true. Libya, Syria, Iraq, Gaza gas fields (yet to be developed), Iran, on the table, eyeing off Venezuela (1000 years of reserves...USA, only 8 years) and on it goes.
Nonsense. Saddam would have been delighted to sell all the hydrocarbons he could pump freely for dollars on world markets. The United States did not allow him to do so. For that matter, Iran also would like to be able to do this.
Note that the world is awash in cheap resources.
Saddam did offer/threaten to do that. The US oil magnates feared that would drive down oil prices and their profits.
Russia has also threatened to do the same.
Nevertheless, continued extraction and burning of fossil fuels, and/or their conversion into plastics threaten the prolonged existence of humans and other life forms.
The so-called "oil for food" program was put in place precisely to keep Iraq from being able to sell oil freely on world markets.
For that matter, Russia also is selling oil, albeit not so freely. Russia wishes it could do so.
As to climate change and its impact- that is all beside the point.
Some zealots believe that they can accelerate the coming of Armageddon, End of Days and the Rapture by destroying the environment.
Israhell a 'pawn!' I don't think so.
Sounds like a good read.
Just like politicians on COVID, or climate change, or the US debt. "No, dude -- that one's totally REAL, man! We're all gonna go belly up IN FIVE YEARS!!" I've noticed it's never "in one year" or "in a hundred years".
Funny how that works (and how often).
Christian megachurch religious fervor:
"Oh Lord won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz".
"And while you're at it, Lord, a few less slimy brown people on the planet would be a good thing too".
This is the point VIN. A culture has grown up especially in the USA where having 'things and having fun' is more important than thinking clearly.
Toqueville pointed this out many times.
A lot of Arabic countries are showing us another side of Religion.
Hezbollah are the actual people feeding the poor and starving, not dissimilar to the Houthis and of course Iran which does not want a Nuclear weapon. None of these people believe in killing civilians. But we in the West want to bomb bomb bomb.
Hi Jenny
In Flint, there is an annual Day of Giving presented by the Muslim community. They offer to Flint’s largely Black poor, everything you can think of. There are doctors present to perform cursory medical exams. There are pantry staples, household goods, school supplies for children.
It’s a huge event and I’ve yet to hear of any “Christian” churches doing something similar.
You live near Flint? Always wanted to go there.
I am not surprised to hear this. I wonder if a lot of people will change religion after all this upheaval?
Islam was already the fastest growing religion before Oct 7, and in the past year and a half the number of people converting to Islam has increased at an even higher percentage. Myself, I was Muslim before but became much closer to my faith since the genocide. For Palestinians in Gaza, their faith is just about all they have left and it keeps them going. They inspire me, as does Yemen.
Dear Narjis. It is so sad that we have to see the slaughter of Palestinians before we understand.
I will never adopt any Religion only because I have lived in this world where Buddhists become evil with power. I look at India today and I weep.
I have great respect for some parts of Islam.
I am not in the least surprised by your statement here.
We in the West have no principles/morality we just bomb people in the name of Empire.
Hi Narjis
Flint and its surrounding suburbs has a considerable Muslim population, and the Muslim African-American population is growing as well.
Most of our areas Muslims are highly educated: many doctors and other professional.
Jenny I was born and raised in Flint. I’ve lived in a rural area between Flint and Lansing for 40+ years now.
I heard that downtown Flint is buzzing now?
True dat Jenny. I don’t go to Flint too often but my sister lives there in a big gorgeous Tudor home and she spends a lot of time downtown.
Jenny. Come and visit me! I’ll take you to Flint 🥰
I'd love to visit you Gypsy you know that but I think I am boycotting USA until they round up ICE and deport them. I know you understand.
I do , Jenny.
However, I have designated my farm as an Amerikkka-free zone and any ICE personnel who have the stupidity of visiting here will be met with the business end of the thirty-ought-six (but damn , does that thing kick!)
There are many doing the same in the UK (or did anyway); but the Globalist scum are trying to divide us along racial, creed or colour lines.... it seems to have worked in the US (who are more insular ?), but not so well in the UK; so what did they do ?: mass immigration, false flags and real stuff - bombings, murders, rapes etc - same as in the EU. Christ - even I fall for it sometimes.
Out of chaos comes order !?
Moment you say " bomb bomb bomb", Jenny, an image of John McCain unfortunately forms in my head.
Churches in the West, in general are too rich -- I've been ragging on the Catholic church in Rome since I was a kid, for example. And in our local parish, it was always a focus on money that we guttersnipe kids would parody, crapping on the monsignor who couldn't step up to that pulpit without a ka-ching. But yes, in the US, the megachurches carried it to the extreme -- because American "culture" has fabricated methodologies for carrying everything involving consumption to an extreme.
Proof beyond doubt that there IS such a thing as too rich and too thin. Too rich now causes mass starvation.
Hi Vin
Do you recall George Harrison’s song “Awaiting on You All”?
“The Pope owns 51% of General Motors, and the stock exchange is the only thing he’s qualified to quote us”
Not by the title, gyp, but I just listened to it and yes, it came right back to me. Always the music that's my prime trigger. Good stuff. Thanks.
And I'd wager that the pope might own a good chunk of Blackrock too. No way to know in this secret seedy world of oligarch finance. Only assurance is that it's a club that you and I ain't likely to be members in.
Vin, it remains one of my all/time favorite songs. Notice that George sings “by chanting the NAMES of the lord you’ll be free”.
Names, not name. I credit George with allowing me to explore other faiths.
I loved him and wept many tears when he died.
I agree. George transcended.
I didn't know this Gypsy............are you sure?
I'm gobsmacked.
Jenny, are you referring to the song? Ask Siri or Alexa or whomever to play it for you.
As you probably know, George was Hari Krishna.
Yes I did know George was HK. Never much liked The Beatles. Was a Rolling Stones girl and of course Big Bob.
I will be sure to listen.
I know hubby is better, how is your brother?
Oh. I am sorry to cause such pain to you dear Vin. John McCain and Newt Gingrich are my most hated people...well there are others of course.
IF the Vatican wanted to make life equitable it is in the position to do so.
Disgusting place filled with treasures. I know a few Professors who have been down in the archives researching.
Vin! Not gonna believe this…just heard Janis sing it on the radio!
Too, too funny!
Saw JJ at the Fillmore East circa 1968. Gotta be one of the most amazing concerts in my memory. She was impossible to exhaust -- I think the word is indefatigable. The voice, energy, sweat. No one like her as a performer.
Day-um Vin!
Can’t believe you got to see Janis!!! 😁
The Fillmore, the darkness, enough light to see a couple feet, aroma of cannabis strong in the air, low buzzing in the audience. And then, the first blasts from her band, lights up on stage, curtains fly open, spots on Janis, there she is. But I can't recall what song she did first, only that the first note into her handheld mike blew the lid off the place and everyone was on their feet cheering. Stoned out of their minds. It was liberating.
I recall an image of her placing flowers on the grave of Bessie Smith. She was hip to her roots. Bessie and other blues singers of that era would sing at tent revival meetings so the experience you describe is also perhaps rooted in that lineage.
Janis definitely appreciated her roots in that tradition, and I think I recall reading that when she was a kid, she listened hard to that earlier generation of blues singers. But ultimately, something unique did emerge, I think.
Vin, those were the good old days!
lol Vin! Don’t forget the color TV! 😂
'Color TV" was Dire Straits?
Jenny, it was part of the song Vin was referring to 🙂
Oh Lord, won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz?
My friends all drive Porsches, I must make amends
Worked hard all my lifetime, no help from my friends
So, oh, Lord, won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz?
Oh Lord, won't you buy me a color TV?
Dialing For Dollars is trying to find me
I wait for delivery each day until three
So, oh, Lord, won't you buy me a color TV?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Neuwirth
Only die-hard SongChasers and the flat-out fortunate seekers, lovers of small indie theater and playwriting along with close observers of Dylan's Rolling Thunder\Blunder (thanks Arlo Guthrie for alt name) Revue circa 1975-78 will have any idea who Bobby Neuwirth was, although his few and far between albums on the Global Monopoly labels gave way to indie labels recorded on the sheqels of his close friends among the SongChaser communities of North America's regional pockets of bardic tradition.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolling_Thunder_Revue
Thanks for evoking that brief time years and an era After the Goldrush....
Keep on doing!
Health and Balance
Eternal Paschal Passover Easter Blessed Tidings
to all of any faith operating in Good Faith
whether tunefully or cantillatory -
Raise a voice of yer choice lingo & poem psalm
of Praise for the One & salvation for Creation
known in Hebe & Ivri as Tehillim
Tio Mitchito
Mitch Ritter\Paradigm Sifters, Code Shifters, PsalmSong Chasers
Lay-Low Studios, Ore-Wa (Refuge of Atonement Seekers)
Media Discussion List\Looksee
I became a Christian later in life and I couldn’t agree more. It’s completely shameful and destroys our witness to the non-violence and peacemaking advocated by Christ. The hypocrisy is appalling. You have more courage and desire for justice than majority of Christians I know. Something deeply broken with Christianity in the West
Mick
The lack of any action in relation to Biden from his church in Delaware made it very obvious to al that the Pope is controlled by big business as well.
Everyone could have seen a benefit in a visit by the Pope to Palestine recently...but No. Could have made a serious difference, in my opinion, on public opinion alone. Undoubted.
Sorry. I forgot that Palestinians are not Christians.
Never even considered.
If it wasn’t for this I would just give up. Keep speaking the truth Caitlyn. I’m hanging on to it by a thread.
Hi Dorothy
We are ALL here threads for you to hang onto.
Caitlin keeps me semi-sane too.
Petition for the immediate release of Mahmoud Khalil.
https://actionnetwork.org/letters/demand-the-immediate-release-of-columbia-student-pro-palestine-advocate-mahmoud-khalil-from-dhs-detention
All this should be completely obvious to anyone who has ever pursued even briefly some sort of spiritual life or understanding. That would almost by definition exclude most Americans, enculturated as we are by grasping hyper-competitive capitalist indoctrination and "values." All a person needs to do to show him/her how spiritually vacuous the core values of American culture really are is pay a little attention to Donald Trump and Elon Musk, what they represent and how they behave. If that doesn't do it, you really aren't paying attention.
Oh God said to Abraham, “Kill me a son”
Abe says, “Man, you must be puttin’ me on”
God say, “No.” Abe say, “What?”
God say, “You can do what you want Abe, but
The next time you see me comin’ you better run”
Well Abe says, “Where do you want this killin’ done?”
God says, “Out on Highway 61”
Highway 61 Revisited
Bob Dylan
Abe got up in the morning and asked his son Isaac hey get up and get dressed because we are going out? Sarah (Abraham's bitch) goes where the hello you taking Isaac? Abraham said, I am taking him up the mountain and going to cut his head off. Sarah called 911 and put the SOB in jail ...
LOL. It shows the insanity of these people and also how they have been indoctrinated into a cult of murder. Christianity was a fabulous concept. Too bad the evil and the ignorant took it over.
Many organized religions are usurped by hypocrites for control of the masses and for their own personal gains.
"If God's on our side, he'll stop the next war."
With God on Our Side
Bob Dylan
DAWN has urged the ICC prosecutor to investigate and prosecute former President Biden, State Secretary Blinken and Defense Secretary Austin for their personal roles in aiding and abetting Israeli war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide in Gaza as part of his ongoing investigation into the situations in Palestine since 2014.
https://dawnmena.org/latest/
Let’s give them our support. Maybe they will expand their complaint to include this latest US administration, and include all the leaders of the western nations supporting this genocide.
Ant bets that it goes nowhere?
We do what we can, and must; the rest is up to, and on, them.
Small comfort to those being brutalized and murdered.
I am not sure what your point is. Do you some better alternative suggestions? Please share.
Sadly I don't. After fifty years of trying to open peoples' eyes I sometimes get weary and too cynical. I grew up with WWII vets as my role models. The ones who died certainly didn't die to support this abomination of what they call justice. I have no answers as to where it went wrong and how to fix it now. You are right though. All we can do is keep trying.
Only 50 years? I've been trying since I was 14, and I'm 80 now, so I know how lonely this has been. I will keep grasping for any and all straws. One doesn't know which or what will be the one that breaks this genocidal camel's back.
Before I could finish reading the first few books of the Old Testament, I was convinced to drop religion. The Gita wasn't any better. Religion is a human creation - thus the fallibility of it.
The philosophy of Christianity is beautiful. Too bad none of us follow or for that matter try to follow the life and love philosophy. If you had read the rest of the bible you would have seen the manipulation perpetrated by the writers to enforce their rule over humanity. While many tout freedom of religion there is no freedom in religion. It is all about subservience. and murder.
I agree very much. The teachings of Christ are beautiful; the later interpretations of those teachings are where the problems of Christianity arise. Surely Christ had no intention of founding a religion; I think he was more intent on reforming Judaism.
G.K. Chesterton had some acute observations on Christian philosophy:
"Jesus promised his disciples three things—that they would be completely fearless, absurdly happy, and in constant trouble."
"To love means loving the unlovable. To forgive means pardoning the unpardonable. Faith means believing the unbelievable. Hope means hoping when everything seems hopeless."
"Christianity has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and not tried."
~ Gilbert K. Chesterton
last quote seems pretty much what some libertarians say about 'real capitalism'.
I did read the rest of it. Beautiful? Some parts (the Red Letter version is especially so). Did that undo the horrible parts. No.
If we ignore the wrong things written there just to say "It is good", then we have thrown objectivity out the window.
The same for the rest of the religious books. If at some point it calls for or justifies killing others, then that is just wrong.
You don't give serial killers kudos just because they also give to charity.
I agree with you entirely. It isn't hard to pick out the parts that manipulate people into subservience. This is the part of "Faith" that requires you to forget about logic and critical thing and go forward blindly on "Faith" and unfortunately it appears many do.
Of course religion is a human creation. What else could it be?
The Old Testament is deeply tied to the attitudes of the Bronze Age (ca. 3000 BC - 1200 BC) and reflect the social attitudes of that time. The Bhagavad Gita is an excerpt from a larger work, the Mahabarata and best read in that context. However, the Mahabarata is huge. As an alternative, try reading some of the Upanishads, which are more concise. They are, as Eknath Easwaran, put it, Postcards from the Beyond. They are very rich! The translations by Easwaran are very good.
I think I would like the opportunity to read the Upanishads (as I've heard about it from several sources).
Do you know of any resources that make it EASIER to understand for ordinary & non-religious folk like me? (and in English too?) Are the Easwaran translations relatively accurate and self-understandable?
The translations by Easwaran are in English and also are accurate, as he was an Indian and also was fluent in Sanskrit. There is a helpful Introduction by Easwaran. The individual Upanishads are accompanied by commentary by another author, but personally I think the Upanishads speak better for themselves. The Easwaran edition is not expensive and includes the most central Upanishads. After that you can dig into the others as translated by other authors.
I taught a course that used the Easwaran translation of the Gita and that is how I became aquainted with his work. I think his work is a good place to start. You can look up used copies on Addall.com which is where I find a lot of books. Addall is a compiler of book sources, not a direct vendor.
Thank you Duane!
You might look into Krishnamurti, who's teaching was often compared favorably to the Upanishads. I spent many years reading and trying to understand what he was "really" saying. Before he died in 1986 he had many discussions with the physicist David Bohm, who in many ways further illuminated what K was teaching from his background in physics. I attended some of K's teachings the year before he died. He was an extremely rare soul.
Most of these discussions can be found online, in videos and audios, plus there are many books on K and Bohm, with several others who took a keen interest in K's teachings. The Upanishads are so ancient (c. 800-300 BCE) and authorless (nobody knows who originally wrote them), that it can be helpful if the language is modernized, which K and Bohm provide, along with the others who participated in many discussions.
I think a re-read of the lasr chapter of the New Testament helps in understanding why there are so many so callrd Christian Zionist. They arent pro-Israel as much as they are wanting to bring back jesus to kill everyone that is not them and Jews taking over all of Greater Israel is a necessary part of having Jesus back.
It is sicker than you presented it.
I've tried to communicate for years that because humans are unavoidably limited and imperfect, that *any and all* beliefs we have about God (and literally everything else outside us, for that matter) are correspondingly unreliable.
Certain believers in God (evangelical Christians) that I've talked to think that, somehow, God cuts through this, so that only "truth" is received by the believer. But unless you're a god (whatever that is) yourself, how could you possibly know? Exhibit A: The thousands (or is it millions, or billions!) of incompatible belief schemes on earth.
Sometimes the force of the illogic (or "alternative logic") is, to me at least, simply jaw-dropping.
But my religion is the only true religion. It is all about love and peace. Therefore we must kill anyone who does not believe. God bless you brother. What? You don't agree? I'll kill you too Sounds perfectly logical to me!.
I have actually talked to people who think Israel is doing God's work. What ever happened to love thy neighbour / How about "Thou not kill?" Where in God's green earth is there any justification for murdering women and children? I would love to see the look on their faces when they stand before God and are sentenced to everlasting fire. Vengeance is mine said the Lord. I hope these pitiless bastards and their self righteous smugness suffer the most horrible fates imaginable.
Do they answer you? I can’t imagine how they make the 2 things connect.
Yes. They actually believe it is in Revelations in the Bible. Nor being a practicing Christian I have tried reading it and fail to make the connection.
If the international institutions have any meaning, and it is questionable for how long, we cannot allow Israel to escape the legal consequences of their war crimes. The Hind Rajab Foundation has, among other things, filed a case with the ICC against 1,000 Israeli soldiers for war crimes in Gaza.
https://www.hindrajabfoundation.org/perpetrators/hind-rajab-foundation-files-historic-icc-complaint-against-1000-israeli-soldiers-for-war-crimes-in-gaza
They have taken further steps in recent days, and vacations are becoming a lot more difficult for IDF soldiers, worldwide. The Hind Rajab Foundation can use our help. Please join me in making a contribution.
https://buy.stripe.com/cN228hbY5g7jaM84gg
To know more about The Hind Rajab Foundation, there are a couple of really good interviews that Glenn Greenwald did on his Rumble platform, and Ali Abunimah of the Electronic Intifada, did with the head of this organisation, Dyad Abou Jahjah. It was very informative.
Here's a petition calling for accountability for the arrest of Ali Abunimah in Switzerland for the crime of speaking about Palestinian rights::
https://chng.it/8D4pkxPhWS
Please sign the petition and share widely.
Microsoft workers oppose ties with Israel.
Take action with us — and support the Microsoft workers organizing to cut the company’s ties with Israel’s military
https://act.mpowerchange.org/go/71588?t=3&akid=10199%2E809623%2EH7UcG5
Microsoft and other tech partners, like Google and Amazon, are helping redefine the ugly underbelly of U.S. technology’s use in war.
We’ve set up a digital action where you can send emails to Microsoft leadership, including AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman, with just a few clicks.
And let’s tell Google to stop weaponizing AI, and to cut ties with Israel.
https://actionnetwork.org/letters/tell-google-stop-using-your-ai-for-genocide-apartheid-and-border-violence?source=mc_GoogleNext_2025_04_10
Religious doctrine isn’t spiritual it’s the opposite, it’s made up by men. Sinead O’Conner was a modern prophet who dared tear up a photo of the Pope on live tv while saying, ‘fight the real enemy’. There are some who catch a glimpse of the actual teaching of Jesus who taught mostly that we are all One. The idea that there is any religious justification for the murder of others is absurd and yes, just plain gross.
Religion are the garments one wears over spirituality. In any religious belief system, one can find good and bad, and/or metaphors and myths for the big questions one naturally has in regards to reality and oneself.
One can find extremists with religious dogmatism that results in heinous actions, just as one can find extremists with secular dogmatism and secular atheists who also are quite capable of acts of evil.
Which is an example of what separates the "clothes" from the underlying spirituality/psyche underneath - that no matter what clothes you wear, be it religious or secular, the ever present psyche is still capable of good and bad.
Vocatus Atque Non Vocatus Deus Aderit
And yet Jesus said again and again, why do you call me good? There is only One that is good, directing us beyond concepts of good and bad.
Well, Laurie Z, we could do with some help from that One....."there is only one who is good"
If you have any close connections, ask him / her to intervene.... and soon. His highest ranking employee in Rome didn't think that a visit to Palestine to highlight the evils of Israeli murders, rapes, sniper killings, torture, sexual violence, bombing, starvation, was a worthwhile effort, so another possible opportunity went begging. (Never ever a possibility, really.) Could have ended the Israeli march to become the USA's Oil and Gas flag bearer and General Manager in the Middle East, soon to be located at the Trump Majestic Hotel on Trump Boulevard, Gaza (postcode not yet allocated)
One would therefore have to say that even the Vatican is complicit like the Western Governments. Everyone who could help, but refuses to, is complicit and those cunning Zionists know that clearly as they did with JFK, over the Israel Nuclear ambitions, telling the Zionistic Johnson in the USS Liberty scandal to call off life-saving help for the crew, and with 9/11 and the following fantasy investigation....and who knows how many others.
We can only assume therefore, that Israel's crimes are acceptable to that One, up there, or wherever. Certainly he must pardon and bless that arch criminal and multi murderer, the fervent Roman Catholic Biden every Sunday in Delaware, and overlook the daily crimes of the ego maniac Trump.
Very forgiving of him. Pity he wasn't more Christian.
The One being God. I’m also disgusted by this world’s indifference, including the RC church and governments everywhere.
My Latin has never been up to such tasks as merely expressing what every waking moment of this blessed\cursed life reinforces and can only loosely be outlined in our charming Anglo New World slang as "Da condition of da human condition...."
I've spent time making some effort beyond mere subsistence survival and been indoctrinated not entirely for the worst by the reductionists of in-spired Holy and Wholly Scriptures. Like the ol' joke says about human handwriting in any lingo, mostly looks like crushed insects....
What we do with all in-spiration is up to US. The world will reflect how up to such challenges we prove to be. Something tells me shrinking armies and blossoming co-operation with wider distribution of the necessities of life will be a reward that will likely have a punch-line and ironic twist to it. Lingering pleasant after-taste and spiritual after-life? Who knows....I keep brushing my teeth at night and when I arise for more humble and humbling results, reflections of what becomes of us that dust blew through here.........
Blessings for all of Maker's Creation
Tio Mitchito
Cancel the Terrorist State of Israel. There are Terrorist Command Centers in the U.S. Capital. They are called "Both sides of the Isle", Israel Slaves. Free Palestine. Free the USA from Zionists. There will be Peace when Israel is history.
No there won’t, there will never be peace because humans love war. We are killer apes, or at least, those best exemplifying that side of our nature have prevailed.
Too late they have spread far and wide.