iLL-Eagle

"Eagle totem is the symbol of freedom with powerful symbolic meaning of timing, victory, and spiritual quest...helping you to discover your personal power and the route to the destiny of your choosing." - Presley Love

The American Bald Eagle was the perfect animal to symbolize America at it's revolution and founding. A country founded by men who exemplified the symbolism of the eagle totem and devised the Constitution with the Preamble that states,

"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America"

I like to think Law in a consummate form will be simplified to a few sentences. "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you" Considering law in it's current state and what constitutes legality an "ill Eagle" symbolizes America in 2014 as laws seem to make anyone a criminal. 

"The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren't enough criminals, one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws." -Ayn Rand 

The People's path to discovery of personal power and route to their own chosen destiny is now like a toll road with sovereignty of passage arbitrary and at the whims of who/what can be bought. Only with payment and the proper licensing  is it "lawful" to engage the market and earn a living of their choosing. People can only get as far as they have the money to pay with it's acquisition dictating their destiny. Our Preamble may read like an inverse if written to reflect current events:

We the citizens of the United States of America, for a disorder forming a more corrupt Union, monetize justice, insure domestic unrest, provide a common offense, promote the general dependency, and secure by the monetization of any blessings of our freedoms while indoctrinating posterity, do disdain and pervert this Constitution for the United States of America for profit. 

The police, protectors of the law of the land, swear to the Law Enforcement Oath that states:



On my honor,
I will never betray my badge,
my integrity, my character,
or the public trust.
I will always have
the courage to hold myself
and others accountable for our actions.
I will always uphold the constitution
my community and the agency I serve.

 

 

The oath is void as soon it is uttered for reasons that contradict almost every line of it. Immunities from prosecution are in place that make accountability all but nonexistent. A conflict of interest between the public trust and the agency incentivizes protection and service of the agency while rationalizing the extortion of the public. A punch thrown towards an officer trained in modern procedure can warrant a bullet to the head. The greater crime being the assailant's poor decision to physically lash-out not the officer's poor decision to unnecessarily kill.

Sir Francis Bacon said this about nature and innovation, "For ill, to man’s nature, as it stands perverted, hath a natural motion, strongest in continuance; but good, as a forced motion, strongest at first. Surely every medicine is an innovation; and he that will not apply new remedies, must expect new evils; for time is the greatest innovator; and if time of course alter things to the worse, and wisdom and counsel shall not alter them to the better, what shall be the end?"

The end, by my reckoning, is the Sun burning out or the Earth splitting in two. Civilization can lose progress bringing about another Dark Age, a vicious cycle of man-made suffering will continue if innovations are not made in time to alter with greater goods the evils men do.

 

 

We could decide to heed wisdom's counsel and history's warnings, forgive transgressions, and sacrifice our ill-eagle and it's ways to make like the mythological Pheonix rising to life from what is looking like a path to Death.

 

 

Happily Ever After In The Realm of Make Believe

We the People in 1984 BEHOLD! The Pale Horse of Kali Yuga and the Bane of the One Ring of Power in the Fires of Armajihadden

I love a good story. Back from when I was a kid my Grandma would read to me from a collection of Grimm's fairy tales almost every night, on the occasions I would stay, as I went to sleep. "Is this story real?", I had probably asked at some point with the response maybe all children get when they ask such things, "Anything is possible in the realm of make-believe."

I don't claim to be an apologetics writer, but I'm sure the title indicates, as was my intention a "mash-up", so to speak, of a few religious prophecies and two works of fiction. Dystopian 1984, the book of Revelation from the Christian Bible, Canto 12 The Age of Deterioration from the Hindu Srimad Bhagavadam, the fate of the One Ring of Power at the end of the Lord of the Rings Trilogy, and Jihad: the Holy War of Islam.

I think that any kind of prediction of future events no matter how open to interpretation, held to scientific precedent, or of reputable belief are always open to change especially if the will and means are there to do so in the "realm of make-believe" anything is possible.

I'll briefly describe the circumstances and characteristics of each work and how it may apply to the "Espiritu de la epoca", or spirit of the age, in today's world. I'll begin with 1984 that clearly does not end "happily ever after" unless of course you love Big Brother and don't mind your fellow citizens dumbed-down to cerebral insufficients.

The main character Winston works in the Ministry of Truth, one of four ministries, for the ruling party in the nation of Oceania. The Ministry of Truth's main function is to alter historical records to benefit the party and image of Big Brother. Work is also underway to implement Newspeak, a language meant to prevent political rebellion by taking out all words related to it. Winston knows something is wrong in the Party and they should be stopped. He starts keeping  a secret journal to write his "criminal" thoughts. Oceania is one of three super powers of the world; the other two are Eastasia and Eurasia. The Ministry of Peace actually sustains a perpetual state of war with the other two. The Ministry of Plenty is in control of all the food supply and rations it out. Party members receive more than their share of luxury but are under constant surveillance by the Thought Police.  The proles, or proletariats, in the book live in squalor but live generally unmonitored and have been de-educated enough to not have the capacity or sense of history to rebel against the party. Emmanuel Goldstein is the supposed leader of an underground rebellion called The Brotherhood. The secret journal, an affair with a lady named Julia, and a trap set by a co-worker named O'Brien to catch them in an open act of rebellion send them to the Ministry of Love. In the Ministry of Love, where those who might rebel, are tortured, brainwashed, and ultimately spirit-broken. Winston gets separated from Julia and adamantly resists for months until he pleads to O'Brien for Julia to take his place thus signaling his allegiance, betraying his love for Julia, he loved Big Brother.

Today the media loves to pretend that the Democrats and Republicans are in a constant power struggle for control of the house or senate every two years we see a barrage of commercials and accusations of "smear campaigns and mud slinging". It really heats up in a presidential election year. with the presidential debates as the centerpiece. The supposed non-partisan Commission on Presidential Debates has former chairman of the Republican National Committee, Frank J. Fahrenkopf, Jr., and Mike McCurry, former Democratic press secretary for Bill Clinton as co-chairs of the commission. Sounds bi-partisan not non-partisan to me.  The Commission's mission states it was established in 1987 to ensure that debates, as a permanent part of every general election, provide the best possible information to viewers and listeners. I underlined possible because in Black's Law Dictionary means capable of existing or happening. Any information is capable of existing or happening, the possibilities are endless. It looks like confusing legal language, the Newspeak of 1984, is legalese today capable of making non-issues a tool for dissension among Americans against each other. Top it all off with the final exam needed today to practice law in the US, the BAR exam, whether you get the story of the bar in historical British courts to separate the lawyer to represent their case from the rest, BAR standing for British Accreditation Regency/Registry, or that's a silly suggestion, it's too close for comfort and Americans need to get to the bottom of it. Don't take my word for it, take a part of George Washington's farewell address for it,

"I have already intimated to you the danger of parties in the State, with particular reference to the founding of them on geographical discriminations. Let me now take a more comprehensive view, and warn you in the most solemn manner against the baneful effects of the spirit of party generally.

This spirit, unfortunately, is inseparable from our nature, having its root in the strongest passions of the human mind. It exists under different shapes in all governments, more or less stifled, controlled, or repressed; but, in those of the popular form, it is seen in its greatest rankness, and is truly their worst enemy.

The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge, natural to party dissension, which in different ages and countries has perpetrated the most horrid enormities, is itself a frightful despotism. But this leads at length to a more formal and permanent despotism. The disorders and miseries which result gradually incline the minds of men to seek security and repose in the absolute power of an individual; and sooner or later the chief of some prevailing faction, more able or more fortunate than his competitors, turns this disposition to the purposes of his own elevation, on the ruins of public liberty."

The book of Revelation and the Hindu Kali Yuga bear remarkable similarities despite there fundamental differences. Each have four distinct separations, Revelation in regards to Israel: Alpha, Scattered, Regathered in Unbelief, A Remnant Saved, and Omega/New Jerusalem. Jesus Christ is the Alpha and the Omega with incarnations and resurrections similar to the Hindu Krishna. In Hindu prophecy, Satya Yuga or age of Truth lasts 4,000 divine years, Treta Yuga (3/4 Truth) for 3,000 divine years, Dvapara (1/2 Truth) for 2,000 divine years,  and Kali Yuga (1/4 Truth) for 1,000 divine years. There is 432 earth years to one divine year in Hindu cosmology.

Satya Yuga/Alpha is characterized by 100% self-realization in man and complete meditation on God. Treta Yuga/scattered is characterized by a process of sacrifice for self-realization. Dvapara yuga/regathered in unbelief is characterized by self-realization by the worship of deities in temples. Kali Yuga/ a remnant saved is characterized by quarrel and hypocrisy. Self-realization is found in the chanting or singing of his Holy names.

Armageddon and the Satya Yuga/ Kali Yuga conjunction are almost like brothers of tales as well with Christ's victory,"That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great. And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army. And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone." Revelation 19 18-20. Krishna in his Kalki avatar incarnation arriving to slay all the treacherous ones in SB 12.2.19-20: "Lord Kalki, the Lord of the universe, will mount His swift horse Devadatta and, sword in hand, travel over the earth exhibiting His eight mystic opulences and eight special qualities of Godhead. Displaying His unequaled effulgence and riding with great speed, He will kill by the millions those thieves who have dared dress as kings".who Revelation 19 11-13 describe,"And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God."

Satya Yuga begins again according to the Srimad Bhagavadam and A new Heaven and a new Earth with New Jerusalem as it's great city in Revelation where everybody lives "Happily ever After".

The other work of fiction in this "mash-up" comes from J.R.R. Tolkien and the story behind the One Ring of Power. In the mythology of Middle Earth there were nineteen rings of power crafted by the Elf Celebrimbor and Sauron who was on good behavior at the time. Three were for the elves and were never touched by Sauron, Seven to the dwarves, and nine given to the rulers of men who later became the Nazgul. Sauron crafted the twentieth One Ring in secret with the motive to contol all the other rings and their possessors. The whole story of the third age of Middle earth revolves around the mission to destroy the One Ring who Bilbo Baggins "stole" from Gollum, later Smaegol, in the Hobbit. The Climactic battle in the Return of the King provides the cover for Frodo to make his way to Mount Doom where Smaegol's last grab, or I should say bite, at it sends him falling to his doom as well as the Ring bringing about the fourth age or the dominion of men.

What could a ring of power symbolize in the real world? Imagine if each society on the globe had a religion, economy, philosophy, something to keep things in order in that culture unique to them. Couldn't it be considered a ring of power? Now what could control those sovereign states all at once with some not even knowing what's happening? Money can do that, not just any money but fiat currency. In fact, America may be like the beast influenced by Britain the dragon from Revelation today or Sauron acting as Melkor's regent in the LOTR. Fiat currency and the abhorrent practice of usury may be the influence of Kali Yuga in a society where paying interest debt justifies the whole business of moral debasement and makes it profitable.

One religion that hates usury and the people that hoard riches worse than adultery, is Islam who seems to be America's sworn enemy on the world stage since the Mujajideen ousted Russia from Afghanistan in the 80's.

The Repentance 9:34-35, "O ye who believe! there are indeed many among the priests and anchorites, who in Falsehood devour the substance of men and hinder (them) from the way of Allah. And there are those who bury gold and silver and spend it not in the way of Allah: announce unto them a most grievous penalty. Proclaim a woeful punishment to those that hoard up gold and silver.... Their treasures shall be heated in the dress of Hell, and their foreheads, sides and backs branded with them. . . . 'Taste then the punishment which is your due."
The Cow 2:275, "Those who consume interest cannot stand [on the Day of Resurrection] except as one stands who is being beaten by Satan into insanity. That is because they say, "Trade is [just] like interest." But Allah has permitted trade and has forbidden interest. So whoever has received an admonition from his Lord and desists may have what is past, and his affair rests with Allah. But whoever returns to [dealing in interest or usury] - those are the companions of the Fire; they will abide eternally therein."
"...They will be paraded before your Lord in ranks: "You have come to Us just as We created you at first. Yes indeed! Even though you claimed that We would not fix a time with you." The Book will be set in place and you will see the evildoers fearful of what is in it. They will say, "Alas for us! What is this Book which does not pass over any action, small or great, without recording it?" They will find there everything they did and your Lord will not wrong anyone at all." (Al-Kahf 18: 48-49)

Islamic Jihadists have a happily ever after too.

All three Abrahamic faiths: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are in a severe state of unrest in 2014 even though they come from the same lineage. All America and it's interests seem to play the situation in the Middle East as a profitable endeavor for the military-industrial complex. The Defense Department acts like a Ministry of Peace. With so many people in the world who have such strong beliefs killing each other, are they make-believing a spiritual war leading to this Armajihadden? Let's make believe a chance to throw the One Ring of Power into Mount Doom and listen to His-story, before a government of total authoritarian control like 1984, where our higher power is "Loved" out of us, can be make-believed into existence?

One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, 

One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them

Can we all live happily ever after?

A Testimony of The Higher Power Part 1

Birth seems to be the best starting point for something like this.  My birth certificate says that I was born on August 19, 1982 at Portsmouth Naval Hospital in Portsmouth, Va with a Father and a Mother as eye witnesses. I was the only child from that marriage and the first born. My Dad had a previous marriage with child, an older sister.

My earliest memories coincide with a second-story apartment my father and I resided at on Bainbridge boulevard in Norfolk, VA when I was around 2-3 years of age. I remember an attempt of getting my own bowl of cereal which I accidentally spilled on the floor. I remember jumping on my parents' bed and injuring my bottom lip on the foot rail. I remember waking up earlier than my parents on one occasion, turning on the TV, and flipping through the channels until I found a show I enjoyed named Pinwheel that aired on Nickelodeon. I remember opening my toy box located in my Dad's room and seeing what I thought was a live crab. In a startle I ran to get my Dad's future 3rd wife. When she checked the toy box the crab was gone. I remember looking down the staircase that led to the apartment we lived in and feeling apprehensive of making it to the bottom by myself. The incident of the crab in the toy box still puzzles me. Was the crab ever really there or was it just my imagination? 

My biological mother and father divorced before I can remember which led me to believe my Dad's third wife, was my Mom.  A belief I maintained until the age of 7 when the question arose of why I had 3 sets of grandparents. My biological grandfather and stepmother would visit me from time to time which led me to ask that inevitable question. One Sunday before church I remember talking to my biological mom on the phone and discovered I had two more siblings, a brother and a sister, from her new husband. I can't remember exactly how I felt with this discovery but I'm confident it had a positive impact which led me to pursue to learn more about what I didn't know.

I was a young boy attending Great Bridge Church of Christ in Great Bridge, VA the first time I heard the words "Jesus" or "God". The preacher catechized me at my request when I was around 7 or 8 years old and I was baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.

Innocence was lost soon thereafter.

The concept of being "born again" alluded me then but may have revealed itself little by little over the course of my life in ways seen strange and often contemptible to the society I live. I could expound on that later. A few words which may, as I sincerely hope, illumine anyone in contemptuous doubt with regards to my ambitions and inspirations for this, prior, and future literary compositions are as follows.

Hari Kari or Seppuku is a form of Japanese ritual suicide by disembowelment. Seppuku was originally reserved only for samurai. Part of the samurai bushido honour code, seppuku was either used voluntarily by samurai to die with honour rather than fall into the hands of their enemies (and likely suffer torture), or as a form of capital punishment for samurai who had committed serious offenses, or performed for other reasons that had brought shame to them.

Benjamin Franklin wrote in his autobiography that it "shall a good deal gratify my own vanity" siting "being persuaded that it is often productive of good to the possessor, and to others that are within his sphere of action." Some of my maternal ancestors inspire me to write autobiographical essays; a 2nd great-grandfather Samuel Willard Saxton, a great grandmother Grace Birgfield, and a great grandfather Robert Murphy. An autobiography at 32 seems a little young so a partial testimony seems most appropriate for the present. 

"If any ambitious man have a fancy to revolutionize at one effort the universal world of human thought, human opinion, and human sentiment, the opportunity is his own — the road to immortal renown lies straight, open, and unencumbered before him. All that he has to do is to write and publish a very little book. Its title should be simple — a few plain words — "My Heart Laid Bare." But — this little book must be true to its title."--from "Marginalia," by Edgar Allan Poe 1844.

I have fancied suicide as an honorable way to escape from my own scorn, embarrassments, and burden on others. I have fancied to gratify my own vanity and make humble those in my sphere of action with my thoughts into words. I have fancied a revolution in the world, I know I'm not the only one, and I know that they will fail in the same mire of delusion and vexations that covers our adulterated natures.

I think now I should fancy a revolution, not of myself for the world, but of higher power for the innocent, especially children, while exacting no recourse or payment except my own affirmative action; in the faith, hope, trust, confidence, belief, view, whatever term suits my fellow man to conjure the efforts required for liberation to keep the most corruption in the past and the least corruption at its farthest conceivable distance in the future. If this is conceivable, then the rest is sure to follow.

The Where's Waldo? Conspiracy

Buddha is credited as stating that three things cannot be hidden for long: the Sun, the Moon, and the Truth. The idea that truths can be hidden seems to be absurd and an insult to the intelligence of the average citizen who scoffs at such conspiracy theories. Even more absurd would be the notion that the Truth of the "War on Drugs", 911, the formation and motives behind terrorist groups, agendas to enslave countries are all hidden in plain sight by misinformation and contrivances that serve to sustain the status quo.  

To put this in perspective, consider Waldo as the Truth and all the rest of the picture is the misinformation reported by most journalists and the mainstream media. Waldo is on the page in plain sight but the challenge lies in discerning him from all the other details in the picture. Strategies of misinformation where the truth is disguised like Waldo keep the general public unaware and apprehensive of even questioning "official" reports and commissions; ostracizing any who deny their claims and insist on the Truth of matters whose discovery would openly incriminate many trusted public figures.

Martin Armstrong has an interesting article citing the events of 9/11 and how exaggeration is the "golden rule" of disinformation. "The Feds knew what they were up to and allowed it to happen and used it to their advantage. There was plenty of confirmed evidence that they knew what would happen. Did then stand back and allow that to happen? Most likely. How do you cover that up, you simply exaggerate everything to destroy any credible investigation. This makes anyone who question 911 a conspiracy nut job. Perfect cover to hide the truth right in front of your eyes."

Conspiracy theories happen to aid in masking the truth of matters perhaps more so than crafty contrivances. Many of these theories quickly fail to Ad Hominem when they stray from the principle of the matter and blame the rich, the Illuminati, the masons, the Bilderburgs, the Rothchilds, or just "they/them" causing most to discredit the whole argument. 

Ephesians 6:12 states, "for we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities." "They" are the people that live to force others into a framework whose guiding principles are egocentric. 

John Swinton (1829-1901), former chief of staff at the New York Times, had this to say on the independence of the press in 1880, "There is no such thing, at this date of the world's history, in America, as an independent press. You know it and I know it.
There is not one of you who dares to write your honest opinions, and if you did, you know beforehand that it would never appear in print. I am paid weekly for keeping my honest opinion out of the paper I am connected with. Others of you are paid similar salaries for similar things, and any of you who would be so foolish as to write honest opinions would be out on the streets looking for another job. If I allowed my honest opinions to appear in one issue of my paper, before twenty-four hours my occupation would be gone.
The business of the journalists is to destroy the truth, to lie outright, to pervert, to vilify, to fawn at the feet of mammon, and to sell his country and his race for his daily bread. You know it and I know it, and what folly is this toasting an independent press?
We are the tools and vassals of rich men behind the scenes. We are the jumping jacks, they pull the strings and we dance. Our talents, our possibilities and our lives are all the property of other men. We are intellectual prostitutes."

Years later, Edward Bernays, who was actually Sigmund Freud's nephew, was a pioneer of public relations and is known as the first to draw upon the social sciences to shape the response of a general or specific audience. Bernays' most influential books include Crystallizing Public Opinion, Propaganda, Public Relations, and The Engineering of Consent. By the titles alone, it is easy to surmise that such knowledge could be instrumental in any endeavor concerning the public. The manipulation of public opinion with strategic employment of misinformation turns "the Truth will set you free" to an inconvenient nuisance.

If that weren't enough to maintain control of the populace, there is game theory. Game Theory is the branch of mathematics concerned with the analysis of strategies for dealing with competitive situations where the outcome of a participant's choice of action depends critically on the actions of other participants. In psychology, game theory is referred to the theory of social situations. There are two main branches of game theory: cooperative and non-cooperative game theory. A cooperative game is a game where groups of players may enforce cooperative behavior. Non-cooperative game theory deals largely with how intelligent individuals interact with one another in an effort to achieve their own goals. In this video, Richard Dawkins explains the prisoner's dilemna, tit for tat, and other strategies with examples from computer programs, World War 1, and the behavior of bats.

                                                                                                                                             

Cooperative and non-cooperative game theory appear to both have merits when their principles are employed in the proper context of human experience. Studies show that competition does produce faster results than a cooperative effort where cooperation's strength is long-term sustainability. 

Matthew 7:16-20 provides a trustworthy benchmark for discerning whether a train of thought is good or corrupt that is idiot-proof. Jesus metaphorically uses trees and the fruits they produce to resemble teachings of a predacious or righteous nature. I'll attempt to compare rules of the game in play as the trees. If the game is good, then good results will follow; and if corrupt, then ill results will follow. A good tree cannot bear corrupt fruit just like a good game cannot have corrupt results. The system as it now exists is corrupted and it's results are made to appear like good results through misinformation, the exultation of materialism, and the ability of money to buy anything from jury's to child prostitutes provided this non-cooperative game is played to such successes. The top players have access to Truth, eat it too, and defecate on the future. 

Money as the convenient tool for the exchange of valuables between consenting parties and it's honest operation has been engineered to a new set of rules of which value, necessity, property, stewardship of human rights, the importance of Truth and honest dealings, and the esteem of the People themselves are all manipulable with money and who or what has it. Those who can make out the semblance of Truth present little threat to the status quo where misinformation and vice are the diet and foods for thought of a society where money does all the driving. 

"When money does all the driving

No one is steering

Everybody has their six shooters

Playing poker in the backseat

The only thing they agree upon

Is no one touches the deck

and no one touches the wheel

This is empire baby

And this train ain't stopping until it derails"-Wu-Li

                                                            

As grim, tyrannical, and conspiratorial as this all might seem; in the grand scheme of things, the movement of Truth and the illumination it brings may be just like the movements of the Sun and Moon; appearing and disappearing from human sight in a predictable manner. It's natural for misinformation to exist and over time quantitatively overcome Truth until the work of filtering and discarding it is undertaken. It could be as simple as changing the rules of a game. Making the ambition for virtue as profitable as egocentric materialism is made to be now. Alexander Pope once stated that, "men must be taught as if you taught them not, and things unknown proposed as things forgot." The overlooked rules and principles that constitute Truth could be made profitable. A sequel to the "Age of Enlightenment" could be just on the other side of the horizon. 

Adults may be disadvantaged to learn new things and accustomed to a game approaching obsolescence, but the children of the world possess the ability to learn anything they are exposed to; a sacred blank slate that could be the best resource to introduce new incentives and rules into play to transform society into the best that can be presently deduced from history.

"Time is money". Time is similar to money. Just as inflation over time makes money worth less, the Time we have to spend alive, as we know it, loses value with every passing day we fail to be true to the best that we know.

Truth is in plain sight obscured by all kinds of non-truths just like Waldo is somewhere on the page with a myriad of distractions. If it were too easy to find Waldo, the books would never of sold as well as they did and I would bet the Truth would not sell either if the challenge of it's acquisition was the same.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  

Subjective Refraction of the Mind

This is a continuation of the blog post published in the fall of 2013 titled The Educational Phoropter where I'll attempt to convey the possibility to create a standard curriculum of learning that can facilitate a mindset that will assist in clearing the mental fog for as many people as possible while preserving natural human rights as they are best understood in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Those of us who are lucky enough to have vision correction available to us when it's needed may be familiar with the term subjective refraction.  The definition of subjective that may be best suited for this analogy is by Merriam-Webster and can be found here 4 a (1): modified or affected by personal views, experience, or background. Refraction also defined by Merriam-Webster in a 3rd instance means: the action of distorting an image by viewing through a medium. Our personal views, experience, and background is the medium that can distort our perceptions of ourselves, other human beings, and nature itself.  

The personal views, morals, life experience, and backgrounds of all people, when taken into consideration of its entirety, opens a spectrum of possibilities farther than the imagination can conceive. If comparable to the electromagnetic spectrum, visible light constitutes a small part of the spectrum; and this is where optimal conceptions, 2 a, the capacity, function, or process of forming or understanding ideas or abstractions or their symbols in the best possible way, may become individually manifest. Just like the goal for the optometrist is to refract the light going into the eye to a standard clarity of 20/20, the curricula I speak of refracts the thought process to a standard clarity of conception; while necessarily adding information to aid in the development of the individual and their social relationships. Jeremy Rifkin's The Empathic Civilization short animation for the RSA does a great job of explaining how empathy is actually "soft-wired" in the brain and is imperative in overriding malicious secondary drives we all have.

In Donder's method (sphere-only refraction), the individual is tested one eye at a time at a distance of 20 feet from a Snellen eye chart by reading a vertical column of letters until they first miss a letter. The Snellen eye chart and test would be replaced by tests and revelations of educational background, moral beliefs, knowledge, ignorance, and experiences of the individual. Testing one eye at a time provides a more precise measurement for that eye. Likewise, one area of mental focus should probably be handled at a time to invite the same accuracy.

In the video The Secret Powers of Time by Philip Zimbardo again, for the RSA, there are 6 "time zones" that people live in: past positive, past negative, present hedonistic, present fated, future this-life, future life after death. Determining which "time zone" an individual is currently living in is important to decide the degree of emotional fortitude they possess and which pathways of subjective refraction are optimal. I imagine the older the adult, the more difficult dedication to learn new information will be.

Education is indeed a life-long process, whether we accept it or let new unknowns induce fear and doubt. This system of prescription should adapt with the needs and ambitions of the individual; never to stagnate an individuals growth or esteem but facilitate the desire to cooperate at higher achievements until Contentment requires it not. The children would be the first to benefit where the joys of accomplishment and learning new things come easily; especially when shared with reciprocation from others. The Will to contribute to society may in fact last longer in an individual's life within a cooperative learning environment/workplace of mutual advancement rather than a competitive learning environment/workplace where maladies can be made desirable.

Subjective Refraction of the Mind and the prescription of an individualized curriculum can be as effective a tool to provide direction to one's life just as the phoropter is effective in liberating those in need of vision correction from an intimidating and blurry world.

Rock, Paper, Scissors

We should all know that child's game we play to settle minor disputes. Rock smashes Scissors. Paper covers Rock. Scissors cut Paper. Those are the rules that the decisions in the game are based on. Maybe a little conversation like this "I want to sit in the front seat", "no, I do", "I'll Rock, Paper, Scissors you for it", can familiarize those who may not know of it or need their mind refreshed. But it's not a game of chance the way we're lead to believe. Its "winnable" by recognizing and exploiting non-random behavior in opponents.

What if in the adult world, this game takes on new relevance when we figuratively expand on the qualities of each. Rock could represent the seen but mostly unseen forces of Nature. Paper could represent the written word collected over the centuries by men of learning and historians. Scissors could represent Force as used in weaponry and warfare by men who assert their will on others.

Paper covers Rock. The more knowledge we have the less mysterious our affairs are and the forces of Nature are easier to manipulate through invention. Scissors cut Paper. Among the first thing conquerors would do to the conquered would be to destroy all their literature to provide security from insurrection and make assimilation easier. Rock crushes Scissors. Nature has a way of neutralizing wills of force whether it's a tyranny meeting it's match with an intelligent, steadfast minority. Almost like the, I'll say, "miracle victories" scattered throughout history. It might be unforeseen dangers or negligence thwarting a culture plundering natural resources.

The choice of which method to employ to get the desired results will vary with the environs and opponent, but when a "win-stay, lose-shift" pattern is displayed, there may be a clear advantage to offer victory, or a recipe for disaster to the player.

America, Our Beloved Hypocrite

Like a horse led to waters that it has lost the concept to drink, current American foreign and domestic policy does not display the Ideals and Values proclaimed today or during it's independence and founding. 

The second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence begins with "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness." As many times as we all have heard these words, some individuals and groups may know and practice their meaning but as a nation we need not go far to show that's not the case.

A Right is morally good, justified, acceptable, or as Thomas Paine puts it in Public Good, "A right, to be truly so, must be right in itself, yet many things have obtained the name of rights, which are originally founded in wrong. Of this kind are all rights by meer conquest, power, or violence...But in the case of a right founded in right the mind is carried cheerfully into the subject, feels no compunction, suffers to distress, subjects it's sensations to no violences, nor sees anything in its way which requires an artificial smoothing."

Liberty is similar in meaning as freedom but they are not the same as described here, "the concept of freedom ignores the concept of obligations, the concept of liberty implies potential obligations." The primary obligation of Liberty is not to infringe upon the Rights and enumerated freedoms of another. We've heard presidents in the past speak of a new world order, yet the global institutions America holds steadfast are of monetary concern.  

We have become unconscionable in our affairs as individual freedoms enumerated in the Bill of Rights  have not been considered along with all humankind's unalienable Rights in our venture to bring "Justice and Liberty for all" to the world. A nation of hypocrisy has no right founded in Right to the endeavors we undertake. Even with the supplemental Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Geneva Conventions,   three centuries of incredible industrial and technological growth leading to the globalization of our world, and the occasions of bloody war and horrible holocaust we are most likely guilty of the same tyrannical usurpation as Britain and it's king at the time of our Revolution, in the invariable pursuit of the very same Object: power, control, and material possession as an agent of psychological identification.

A pursuit of Universal Human Rights, Life, Liberty, and Happiness would have led us all to better lives and relations if not for the hypocrisy and infidelity in our affairs contrary to what we say we believe. Instead we have a state of affairs that resembles an economic conquest for Objects ravaging relations at home, abroad, land, air, sea, our concept of Right, and our stewardship of Rights.The values of nonviolence and the Golden Rule necessary to the freedoms of the first amendment have become said only and not done. Unchecked in the People and their Government, the pursuit of Objects instead of Values justifies a terrible creation and enforcement of statutes that forbid liberties. This fictional set of laws is set to accelerate just as the Usury of fiat currency procures Inflation in the name of economic growth.

As president George Bush stated in his 2006 State of the Union Address that "America is addicted to Oil", we are addicted to the Object and it gets clearer everyday. We bring terrorists and revolutionaries to confront our actions just as Britain did before. The American Dream is not a death-pledge for us or anyone else! 

No matter if you're Christian, Muslim, or simply an addict there is a way to rectify hypocrisy:

"The man who "walks humbly with his God" and is wholly free from guile is a blessed man indeed." 

“Everything rightful has a truth in it and no man will reach the truth of devotion unless he does not wish to be praise for what he has done for the sake of God.

You should recite Dua in secret and always seek a private place, for retirement repels hypocrisy. Nevertheless, if you are among people, you have to preserve your devotion which can not be attained except by getting to know: 

1- God and the fact that everything is in His hand. 

2- People and the fact that nothing is in their hand.

3- Human dignity, honor and endeavor.

It is in this case that people will not be important to you." 

Or as steps 4-9 of the 12 steps indicate, "Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves, Admitted to God, to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs, Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character, Humbly asked God to remove our shortcomings, Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all, Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others." God, of course, as it is understood on an individual level.

We have a vast array of sources to derive inspiration that is right founded on right, although mainstream media would draw it's focus on right founded from wrong, one only has to seek truth to find it.

I'll close with an excerpt from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "Where Do We Go From Here" speech and the poem by Emma Lazurus that adorns the Statue of Liberty.

"I'm concerned about a better world. I'm concerned about justice; I'm concerned about brotherhood; I'm concerned about truth. And when one is concerned about that, he can never advocate violence. For through violence you may murder a murderer, but you can't murder murder. Through violence you may murder a liar, but you can't establish truth. Through violence you may murder a hater, but you can't murder hate through violence. Darkness cannot put out darkness; only light can do that."

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,

With conquering limbs astride from land to land;

Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand

A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame

Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name

Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand

Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command

The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.

"Keep ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she

With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

Tyranny of the Union

First of all, I would like to thank ~Sineh~ for his 2011 blog on these cartoons on the political landscape of the early 20th century where I first came across these.

I was not able to find an illustrator for number 1. However, 2 and 4 are the work of Alfred Owen Crozier and 3 is the work of Carey Orr while with the Chicago Tribune.

Please note the Aldritch Plan was the Republican's National Reserve Association that was to be replaced by the Democrat's Federal Reserve System with the Wilson Administration.


       

1) The bankers/wall street own the false left right paradigm:

2) The tyranny of and by the false left right paradigm funnels substantially ALL tax revenue to the bankers/wall Street:

3) The tyranny of and by the false left
right paradigm incurs incredible amounts of deficits to enslave future generations to pay interest to the bankers/wall street; under the guise of funding basic (unnecessary) bureaucratic services:

4) The sum total is that we are debt/tax slaves to the Rothschild's and whoever else lives this way:

The semblance of the future portrayed by these  cartoons of the early 20th century is uncanny to how the false left/right paradigm continues with the brain children of these policies into the 21st century.

There is no bill congress can present or executive order the president can sign that will successfully combat income inequality and pursue oppurtunity for all without addressing the Federal Reserve System itself first. Then the rest can and will follow.

What say you?

The Shoulders of Giants

Most would believe Isaac Newton the first to refer to "standing on the shoulders of giants" in a letter to his rival Robert Hooke in 1676:

"What Descartes did was a good step. You have added much several ways, and especially in taking the colours of thin plates into philosophical consideration. If I have seen a little further it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants."

However, in a treatise on logic called Metalogicon, written in Latin in 1159 by John of Salisbury we find:

"We are like dwarfs sitting on the shoulders of giants. We see more, and things that are more distant, than they did, not because our sight is superior or because we are taller than they, but because they raise us up, and by their great stature add to ours."

The meaning behind the saying is the understanding gained by major thinkers who have gone before in order to make intellectual progress. Those of us in 1st and 2nd world countries need not look far to behold the legacy of our predecessors achievements and the advancements made through innovation.

To further the Dwarf/Giant symbiosis to modern civilization, we stand on giants grown to a height that would tower over past giants. Collections of literature and research the world over are available and accessible. Don't deceive yourself that the hard work is done. All one needs to know is where to look and there are words to answer questions previously unthought. If you can't see the world, it can be brought to you.

"The uncreative mind can spot the wrong answers, but it takes a very creative mind to spot the wrong questions" The question has never been: Do we have the money? The question has always been: Do we have the resources? ~ Jacque Fresco