Thursday, January 28, 2010

The State of the Union

I liked the President's speech last night. He said many things which needed to be said -- and, there, in front of us all, our so-called distinguished Representatives and Senators from the GOP sat on their hands with smirks on their faces. It was nauseating. How I wish I had a 2X4 that could reach to Washington so that I might knock some sense of real love for their country into whatever brains they might have. However, they don't have any because they sold them to their corporate and tea-bagger owners. They don't make any kind of sense any more. Everything out of their mouths is rote. Even Chris Matthews, who gives the "better" GOP mouthpieces a forum, is getting disgusted with them when they attempt to change the questions they have been asked. Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt are turning in their graves. The current GOP IS NOT the party of Lincoln. Any real moral stands they once had are long since gone. I am so disgusted whenever they use that descriptor that I can't see straight. Yet, so many people allow themselves to be snookered by these vile creatures. Take off your rose-coloured glasses and see that they are naked!
ADDENDUM:
I really admire President Obama for entering the fiery furnace at the GOP shin-dig in Baltimore. I wouldn't have been so nice, even though he did call them "liars" (not his word) and "hypocrites" (not his word) to their faces. I'm just not able to "make nice" with that particular group because they play with loaded dice and cards up their sleeves. Yes, I am calling them cheats, thieves, liars, and hypocrites.

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Atlantis, Vatican Conspiracies, Codes -- Oh, My!

A myth which has entranced almost everyone in the Western world is the story of Atlantis, that golden city lost to us because of its inhabitants' hubris. The story has sparked the imaginations of many writers since Plato who use it as a basis for their story telling. Over the years I have read a number of these novels: Clive Cussler's "Atlantis Found," Thomas Greanias' "Raising Atlantis," and just recently Charles Brokaw's "The Atlantis Code." The last two also involve Vatican conspiracies to supress the truth of the discoveries because of fear that their church would be diminished and the people know too much about the mythic substructure which underpins this particular religion.
Needless to say, none of these is great literature. And, even though I am not a fan of the Roman Catholic Church, it would indeed be a major news item if there were any real, current conspiracies being cooked up by the Vatican. The Galileo Affair is now such an embarassment to them that it would indeed be supremely foolish of them to do anything of this sort.
Of the three titles I mentioned, "The Atlantis Code" has the most ridiculous underlying myth. The writer would have you believe that the Garden of Eden and the Tower of Babel were a part of Atlantis. In addition, he posits that there was a "first son" who brought a special book, which was violently taken from him by the Atlanteans. This attempt to posit Christianity's supposed truth from the beginning of time is what the 4th century CE creed writers tried to do. In addition, I was upset that the hero "allowed" the Roman Church to hide away the book. However, maybe I shouldn't have been so surprised at all since he named him Lourds (ie. Lourdes or Lords). I am really wondering what type of academic the writer really is. The writing is fairly good and I must admit that I liked Natasha, the Russian police inspector, who is drawn into the story due to the fact that her sister is murdered as a part of the plot. The bad guys are really, really bad, as you probably can expect from a novel of this genre.
"Raising Atlantis" Roman connection is with a former nun who is sent by the pope to try to stop the excavation. It is directly said that people should be kept ignorant of this "for their own good." Yeah, sure. Barefoot and pregnant. Right now I don't know if I am going to read the two sequels to this or not. Reviews for the third in the series haven't been good and it has been stated that he got the plot for it directly from Clive Cussler's "Atlantis Found".
Cussler is fun; and, although he is occasionally wooden as a writer, they are great beach reads. He is definitely over-the-top and in great form in this novel.

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Hypocrisy Watch: Do As I Say, Not As I Do

I have a finely set Hypocrisy Meter. There are, of course, The Usual Suspects. The entire GOP is in a category all their own. However, there is one group in particular who will scream "persecution" when I mention them: so-called "moderate" Christians. The reason I am placing them in this category is because of a call some of their leaders made to moderate Muslims to abjure the Jihadists, theocrats, and other assorted wing-nuts who populate that religion. Of course, almost every religion has its own jihadists, theocrats, and wing-nuts. However, these fine folk do not seem to find it necessary that they, in turn, PUBLICALLY abjure the jihadists, dominionists, theocrats, and assorted wing-nuts in their own religion. I do remember that somewhere in one of the gospels that Jesus said something to effect of tending to the log in your own eye before telling another person to tend to the sliver in his. So, no soup for you today!