MANHATTAN, New York (August 18, 2008)
"When the flesh meets the cross…Seduced by evil desires…" Admonitions and warnings of a sermon open the episode of ‘Three Sundays.’ How do we learn right and wrong? We can hear the encouragement to behave properly and the threat of punishment for immoral actions but we learn by empathetical observation of those in positions of standing. Witnessing actions of our parents and societal role models teach us what will be rewarded and what will be negatively reinforced or punished. At the extreme, the Catholic church of Peggy offers heaven and warns of hell.
DISCLAIMER: The essay below contains plot spoilers about Season 2, Episode 4: "Three Sundays." If you haven't seen that episode, check out the Mad Men schedule on amctv.com to see when encore presentations are airing or download it from iTunes.
The Drapers engage in a domestic drama regarding how to control and discipline their son Bobby. He is full of “shenanigans, ...being wild in the house, ...lying in (Betty's) face” and ignoring warnings to be careful. Betty wants Don to deliver Bobby a spanking to teach him. Betty snarls the point, "First the washing machine and now the hi-fi... How else is he going to learn the difference between right and wrong?"
It is interesting to note that Betty has started to neglect the understood motherly function of feeding her kids (at 7:30 PM) and her husband when he returns from work. Betty at the end learns from Don: "My father beat the hell out of me. All it did was make me fantasize about the day I could murder him." Their couple violence escalates to shoves and threats to bodily harm (as in "put you through that window").
Daughter Sally is about eight years old and precociously knows enough to ask Paul about sex when she visits the office. “Do you kiss her? Do you ride on top of her?” Discussions with Joan about breast size and expectations of her own image of what she will be when she grows up are Sally's way of being sophisticated and “hip” (not yet a verbal meme for eight-year-olds in 1962). As we know, the tweeners and younger girls of today are bombarded with provocative and suggestive images and sounds. Some will not be so fortunate as to be carried home in the arms of their fathers after their first experiment with drinking whiskey until they pass out. It is worth noting for concerned parents that about 20% of children (even as young as six) are interested in sex, know the basics and fantasize about its adult implications (from the perspective and dream worlds of children, of course).
On the other hand, Roger Sterling has learned that he can get anything he wants if he is willing to pay the price of the ticket or “invoice” as he puts it. Vicky the prostitute has agreed to Roger’s price point in exchange for Roger getting whatever he wants in sexual acts. They depart from the hotel room to Lutece with Roger volunteering to school her in the finer points of red wine (and perhaps how to be his perfect mistress).
Father Gill learns from sister Anita Olson during confession that Peggy has “seduced a married man.” Anita judges her and hates her for her sin of the out-of-wedlock child. What's more, Anita feels that Peggy “acts like nothing has happened.”
Peggy's story resonates for us all. My own personal footnote is that I was conceived out of wedlock in murky circumstances during an evening of a summer baseball tournament. The act of conception was in a car with alcohol involved. This was an era when abortion was out of the question. Our nuclear family had a “wild-man” electron from before day one. “Growing up with the teenagers” was literal, figurative and painful. My familial (not the biological) father suffered and withdrew from me at a very early age.
Father Gill commits an act of tender kindness when he gives Peggy the blue Easter egg “for the little one.” May we all learn compassionate wisdom. ///
Monday, August 18, 2008
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Sudan Attacks in North Darfur
CHINATOWN, New York (August 14, 2008) >> CENTCOMM: At The Front
The Sudan government is waging a fresh campaign to clear North Darfur of rebels. The May 10 assault on Khartoum was from Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) camps located in that region near the border convergence of North Darfur, Chad and Libya. Oil exploration activities have also begun in that area. A satellite view of the terrain shows a vast area of desert that could be a clip of Mars – endless rippled reddish-tan sand hills.
At least seven were killed in Tuesday's most recent attacks by Sudan in North Darfur. Purportedly between 100-270 vehicles and 500 mounted janjaweed on camels and horses were involved in the operational assaults. All the water has to be transported...hence the truck convoys and low numbers of attack troops riding in “technicals” and on camels and horses. The location of the attack was identified as a soda ash plant apparently occupied by Darfurian rebels. Exact location (according to Abdel-Wahid al-Nour, the chairman of the Sudan Liberation Movement) was proximate to the soda ash deposits of Jebel Atron. The area is south of the great Wadi Atron geo-physical feature (like a giant desert washed-out area or a river with no water). This is also – not coincidentally – in an oil development and exploration field identified as Block A12.
The Sudanese government fails to acknowledge that seismic activity is underway. However, Block A12 is operated by a “consortium led by the privately held Saudi Arabian oil company al-Qahtani” (BBC/Khartoum). Al-Qahtani & Sons is enormous in oil field services: and construction contracting; the company has a division specializing in anti-corrosive pipes. The region is one that Chinese companies are seeking to explore and Chinese workers have recently been moved there to look for oil in the remote area.
"Preparations are ongoing to launch a small campaign of 1,000 kilometers of seismic" works at Block 12A in Northern Darfur, Sudan's country manager at Ansan Wikfs, a partner of Sudan-owned Sudapet, Denis Rey told the Dow Jones at or around July 9. Company officials confirmed at that time that “state-linked Chinese oil services companies are in talks to help Sudan exploit its crude reserves in its troubled Darfur region with the Sudanese army providing security,”
The Darfur region of conflict now sprawls over four countries: Sudan, Chad, northern Central African Republic (CAR) and now cross-border retreats of rebels into Libya. At the core, the central factors of the overlapping conflicts are depleting water and developing oil.
The Sudanese offensive to clear Darfurian rebels out of north along Chad border is also a convenient place to park Sudan's anti-Chadian proxies. At the corner with the Libyan border are mountains to the west from there along northern Chadian border with Libya.
Sudanese Army and Chadian insurrectionists outweigh the Chad Army and Darfurian rebels many times. So Khartoum's strategy may be to lean on the Chad government and wait until they wear down or to diplomatically achieve what they want from Chad without a fight.
The Sudanese embassy in N'Djamena is set to re-open next week. A rapprochement with the Chad government of Idriss Deby (presently ranked as the world's most corrupt) includes side agreements for restoration of bilateral relations and cessation of negative media campaigns by the two governments. Libyan leader. Muammar Ghaddafi is also sponsoring a tripartite summit that the two presidents of Sudan and Chad have agreed to attend.
This regional campaign to clear the northern flank is in the context of the larger overall conflict over Darfur. In 2003, Darfurian rebels attacked Sudanese positions as push back on Arab herders displacing black African villagers in the massive region of Darfur (meaning "land of the Fur" tribe). Most are familiar with the Sudanese response of ferocious janjaweed irregulars engaging in brutal ethnic cleansing. According to the United Nations, over 300,000 have been killed and two million have been displaced with a substantial proportion of those falling into refugee status. ///
The Sudan government is waging a fresh campaign to clear North Darfur of rebels. The May 10 assault on Khartoum was from Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) camps located in that region near the border convergence of North Darfur, Chad and Libya. Oil exploration activities have also begun in that area. A satellite view of the terrain shows a vast area of desert that could be a clip of Mars – endless rippled reddish-tan sand hills.
At least seven were killed in Tuesday's most recent attacks by Sudan in North Darfur. Purportedly between 100-270 vehicles and 500 mounted janjaweed on camels and horses were involved in the operational assaults. All the water has to be transported...hence the truck convoys and low numbers of attack troops riding in “technicals” and on camels and horses. The location of the attack was identified as a soda ash plant apparently occupied by Darfurian rebels. Exact location (according to Abdel-Wahid al-Nour, the chairman of the Sudan Liberation Movement) was proximate to the soda ash deposits of Jebel Atron. The area is south of the great Wadi Atron geo-physical feature (like a giant desert washed-out area or a river with no water). This is also – not coincidentally – in an oil development and exploration field identified as Block A12.
The Sudanese government fails to acknowledge that seismic activity is underway. However, Block A12 is operated by a “consortium led by the privately held Saudi Arabian oil company al-Qahtani” (BBC/Khartoum). Al-Qahtani & Sons is enormous in oil field services: and construction contracting; the company has a division specializing in anti-corrosive pipes. The region is one that Chinese companies are seeking to explore and Chinese workers have recently been moved there to look for oil in the remote area.
"Preparations are ongoing to launch a small campaign of 1,000 kilometers of seismic" works at Block 12A in Northern Darfur, Sudan's country manager at Ansan Wikfs, a partner of Sudan-owned Sudapet, Denis Rey told the Dow Jones at or around July 9. Company officials confirmed at that time that “state-linked Chinese oil services companies are in talks to help Sudan exploit its crude reserves in its troubled Darfur region with the Sudanese army providing security,”
The Darfur region of conflict now sprawls over four countries: Sudan, Chad, northern Central African Republic (CAR) and now cross-border retreats of rebels into Libya. At the core, the central factors of the overlapping conflicts are depleting water and developing oil.
The Sudanese offensive to clear Darfurian rebels out of north along Chad border is also a convenient place to park Sudan's anti-Chadian proxies. At the corner with the Libyan border are mountains to the west from there along northern Chadian border with Libya.
Sudanese Army and Chadian insurrectionists outweigh the Chad Army and Darfurian rebels many times. So Khartoum's strategy may be to lean on the Chad government and wait until they wear down or to diplomatically achieve what they want from Chad without a fight.
The Sudanese embassy in N'Djamena is set to re-open next week. A rapprochement with the Chad government of Idriss Deby (presently ranked as the world's most corrupt) includes side agreements for restoration of bilateral relations and cessation of negative media campaigns by the two governments. Libyan leader. Muammar Ghaddafi is also sponsoring a tripartite summit that the two presidents of Sudan and Chad have agreed to attend.
This regional campaign to clear the northern flank is in the context of the larger overall conflict over Darfur. In 2003, Darfurian rebels attacked Sudanese positions as push back on Arab herders displacing black African villagers in the massive region of Darfur (meaning "land of the Fur" tribe). Most are familiar with the Sudanese response of ferocious janjaweed irregulars engaging in brutal ethnic cleansing. According to the United Nations, over 300,000 have been killed and two million have been displaced with a substantial proportion of those falling into refugee status. ///
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Manage Expectations on Mad Men's "The Benefactor"
What do we expect? What would Don Draper do? How do the characters “manage people’s expectations”? How are others able to use and manipulate us because we "expect" them to behave a certain way? The level of social contracts contains a framework within which we expect people to act and respond. The characters who trump that level with their willful expedience to take the game beyond the boundary triumph as the winners. They act on their needs and how to attain them beyond societal norms.
DISCLAIMER: The essay below contains plot spoilers about Season 2, Episode 3: "The Benefactor." If you haven't seen that episode, check out the Mad Men schedule on amctv.com to see when encore presentations are airing or download it from iTunes.
"The Benefactor" (episode #16) of Mad Men involves five couples: Drapers, Barretts, Schillings, Harry and his pregnant wife Jennifer, Arthur and his girlfriend Tara. Each of those couples demonstrates surface of expectations (e.g., contractual fidelity) and how those expectations really play out under the table and/or below the belt.
For example, the couple of comic Jimmy Barrett and his manager/maybe-wife/(sister-in-the-old-days) Bobbie have very low expectations around "fidelity." It's all business and survival. In the open, Jimmy goes beyond politeness and totally insults the obese Mrs. Schilling as a semblance of the Hindenburg. He ceases to stop and dumps on with “buffalo” and “whale” comparisons. Getting drunk on a contracted promotional shoot doesn’t faze him as wrong or inappropriate. People expect it. Later in the episode, Bobbie tells Don on the phone that Jimmy is auditioning at the Copa nightclub – controlled by the Mob in those days. That’s hard ball rules.
Bobbie thinks (expects) she can intimidate Don Draper as if he plays by the understood rules of propriety in business dealings. She will discover that Don plays hard ball better than she does. Bobbie expects a payoff for her behavior but doesn't get one. The turning moment is the command-performance sex in the front seat of Don’s car during the hailstorm. He protests, “I don't want to do this.” She retorts, “(IT) doesn't feel that way.” In the powder room at Lutece, Don manipulates Bobbie's expectations of his need/affection/lust for her. Don threatens to ruin Jimmy if she does not prompt him for the apology to Mrs. Schilling.
The insulted Schillings deserve but barely expect an apology from the likes of Jimmy Barrett. Mrs. Schilling “knows that’s what (Jimmy does) but she doesn’t have the stomach for it.”
Harry's wife Jennifer expects him to ask for a raise. She also has expectations that they somehow “deserve” the money because they need it for the coming baby. Oh my, how times have changed.
Arthur, the handsome rider, expects to be treated as “the rooster” at the stable but discovers that Betty turns down his advances. Immediately revealed are imbalances of money (she's got it) and dimorphism (he is much larger than she is). Arthur's relationship with Tara seems to be social climbing, expedient and unequally balanced.
Betty Draper defends her fidelity and performs as Don's “better half.” She understands the game and asks Don if the business dinner at Lutece will be an occasion for her to “talk” (i.e., participate in the conversation) or one in which she is expected to be silent. When the evening ends with Betty cuddling cozy next to Don in the car, she expects him to recognize that they “make a great team.” ///
DISCLAIMER: The essay below contains plot spoilers about Season 2, Episode 3: "The Benefactor." If you haven't seen that episode, check out the Mad Men schedule on amctv.com to see when encore presentations are airing or download it from iTunes.
"The Benefactor" (episode #16) of Mad Men involves five couples: Drapers, Barretts, Schillings, Harry and his pregnant wife Jennifer, Arthur and his girlfriend Tara. Each of those couples demonstrates surface of expectations (e.g., contractual fidelity) and how those expectations really play out under the table and/or below the belt.
For example, the couple of comic Jimmy Barrett and his manager/maybe-wife/(sister-in-the-old-days) Bobbie have very low expectations around "fidelity." It's all business and survival. In the open, Jimmy goes beyond politeness and totally insults the obese Mrs. Schilling as a semblance of the Hindenburg. He ceases to stop and dumps on with “buffalo” and “whale” comparisons. Getting drunk on a contracted promotional shoot doesn’t faze him as wrong or inappropriate. People expect it. Later in the episode, Bobbie tells Don on the phone that Jimmy is auditioning at the Copa nightclub – controlled by the Mob in those days. That’s hard ball rules.
Bobbie thinks (expects) she can intimidate Don Draper as if he plays by the understood rules of propriety in business dealings. She will discover that Don plays hard ball better than she does. Bobbie expects a payoff for her behavior but doesn't get one. The turning moment is the command-performance sex in the front seat of Don’s car during the hailstorm. He protests, “I don't want to do this.” She retorts, “(IT) doesn't feel that way.” In the powder room at Lutece, Don manipulates Bobbie's expectations of his need/affection/lust for her. Don threatens to ruin Jimmy if she does not prompt him for the apology to Mrs. Schilling.
The insulted Schillings deserve but barely expect an apology from the likes of Jimmy Barrett. Mrs. Schilling “knows that’s what (Jimmy does) but she doesn’t have the stomach for it.”
Harry's wife Jennifer expects him to ask for a raise. She also has expectations that they somehow “deserve” the money because they need it for the coming baby. Oh my, how times have changed.
Arthur, the handsome rider, expects to be treated as “the rooster” at the stable but discovers that Betty turns down his advances. Immediately revealed are imbalances of money (she's got it) and dimorphism (he is much larger than she is). Arthur's relationship with Tara seems to be social climbing, expedient and unequally balanced.
Betty Draper defends her fidelity and performs as Don's “better half.” She understands the game and asks Don if the business dinner at Lutece will be an occasion for her to “talk” (i.e., participate in the conversation) or one in which she is expected to be silent. When the evening ends with Betty cuddling cozy next to Don in the car, she expects him to recognize that they “make a great team.” ///
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Mother Bear Russia Attacks
CHINATOWN, New York (August 10, 2008)
If one sees South Ossetia as a bear cub of Mother Bear Russia, one may want to turn one's eyes away from the fate of the small creature (say a racoon, i.e., Republic of Georgia) that threatened such a much larger beast. Out on the icy surface of geopolitical reality, the "frozen conflict" is heatedly engaged.
Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili has set in motion actions that may prove very dangerous for us all. The question is the degree to which the Russians are willing to withstand international pressure while taking territory. Russia as the "Gazprom Inc." petrostate covets control of the pipeline from Azerbaijan and the Caspian Sea energy fields.
The military weight advantage of Russia over Georgia is overwhelming: 650,00 versus 30,000 personnel; 200 versus 13,000 tanks and APC's; combat aircraft 1200 versus handful; 7500 artillery pieces versus roughly a hundred. (Source: Jane's Assessments) At this posting, Russian naval operations are encircling the Black Sea side while tank-lead Russian occupation forces are pouring south into the area around Gori, Georgia and down through Abkhazia.
The warnings were clear. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin especially, warned repeatedly of "serious consequences" if South Ossetia was "provocative." Putin was explicitly clear that "Russia will not and can not accept a NATO presence in Georgia." Kosovo's separation from Serbia in February was one more factor leading to this unfortunate turn of international events. The Russians substantially upped the volume of the growl since April. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has specifically and repeatedly threatened that Georgian efforts to join NATO “will lead to renewed bloodshed.”
Strategic considerations in the Caucasus Mountains have lead Russia to military action for over 200 years. The 1989-1991 dissolution of the Soviet Union led to serious fighting then followed by 19 years of "unsettled conflict" as it has been characterized. It is notable that linguistically, the Ossetians are of Persian rather than Caucasus lineage. Culturally, their history is connected to the north. Local tensions include competition for scarce water and fuel between the 80%-majority Ossetians (many of whom now possess Russian passports) and the Georgians.
Russian-Georgian Timeline
13th Century - Ossetians pushed south into the Caucusus by the Mongols
1783 - Georgia accepts protectorate status under Catherine the Great
1801 - Russia annexes Georgia
Dec. 1879 - Josef Stalin born in Gori, Georgia
1914-1918 - World War One
1918-1920's - Russian Revolution and aftermath; flu pandemic
1930's - Bloody purges under Georgian Communist Party chief Beria
1941-1945 - World War Two
1948-1985 - The Cold War between the Warsaw Pact and NATO/U.S.A.
1989-1991 - Collapse of the Soviet Union
1990-1991 - South Ossetians fight for separation from Georgia
1991 - Georgia declares independence from Russia. Shevardnadze became president
1992-1994 - Abkhazia fights for separation from Georgia and Russian re-unification
2003 - Shevardnadze overthrown
2004 - The Rose Revolution elects Mikheil Saakashvili as Georgian President
Summer 2004 - Georgian troops re-enter South Ossetia to restore "territorial integrity" and order against banditry
Winter 2006 - Russia imposes food embargoes, cuts transportation and energy
Summer 2006 - Georgia sends troops back into Abkhazia
2006 - South Ossetian referendum votes for full independence
February 2008 - Kosovo independence recognized. Russian Duma votes to recognize South Ossetia and Abkhazia
April 2008 - Georgia's Saakashvili demands reversal and supplies mobilization
May-July 2008 - Violence, bellicosity, military over-flights and insults escalate on all sides
August 2008 - Georgians surround and attack Ossetian city of Tskhinvali; Russians invade; state of war is decreed and mobilization expanded; 2000 troops flown back to Georgia from Iraq by Americans
Russia has made itself clear. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin: "War has started." Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov: “We will do anything not to allow Georgia and Ukraine to join NATO.” The West is calling for ceasefires. ///
If one sees South Ossetia as a bear cub of Mother Bear Russia, one may want to turn one's eyes away from the fate of the small creature (say a racoon, i.e., Republic of Georgia) that threatened such a much larger beast. Out on the icy surface of geopolitical reality, the "frozen conflict" is heatedly engaged.
Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili has set in motion actions that may prove very dangerous for us all. The question is the degree to which the Russians are willing to withstand international pressure while taking territory. Russia as the "Gazprom Inc." petrostate covets control of the pipeline from Azerbaijan and the Caspian Sea energy fields.
The military weight advantage of Russia over Georgia is overwhelming: 650,00 versus 30,000 personnel; 200 versus 13,000 tanks and APC's; combat aircraft 1200 versus handful; 7500 artillery pieces versus roughly a hundred. (Source: Jane's Assessments) At this posting, Russian naval operations are encircling the Black Sea side while tank-lead Russian occupation forces are pouring south into the area around Gori, Georgia and down through Abkhazia.
The warnings were clear. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin especially, warned repeatedly of "serious consequences" if South Ossetia was "provocative." Putin was explicitly clear that "Russia will not and can not accept a NATO presence in Georgia." Kosovo's separation from Serbia in February was one more factor leading to this unfortunate turn of international events. The Russians substantially upped the volume of the growl since April. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has specifically and repeatedly threatened that Georgian efforts to join NATO “will lead to renewed bloodshed.”
Strategic considerations in the Caucasus Mountains have lead Russia to military action for over 200 years. The 1989-1991 dissolution of the Soviet Union led to serious fighting then followed by 19 years of "unsettled conflict" as it has been characterized. It is notable that linguistically, the Ossetians are of Persian rather than Caucasus lineage. Culturally, their history is connected to the north. Local tensions include competition for scarce water and fuel between the 80%-majority Ossetians (many of whom now possess Russian passports) and the Georgians.
Russian-Georgian Timeline
13th Century - Ossetians pushed south into the Caucusus by the Mongols
1783 - Georgia accepts protectorate status under Catherine the Great
1801 - Russia annexes Georgia
Dec. 1879 - Josef Stalin born in Gori, Georgia
1914-1918 - World War One
1918-1920's - Russian Revolution and aftermath; flu pandemic
1930's - Bloody purges under Georgian Communist Party chief Beria
1941-1945 - World War Two
1948-1985 - The Cold War between the Warsaw Pact and NATO/U.S.A.
1989-1991 - Collapse of the Soviet Union
1990-1991 - South Ossetians fight for separation from Georgia
1991 - Georgia declares independence from Russia. Shevardnadze became president
1992-1994 - Abkhazia fights for separation from Georgia and Russian re-unification
2003 - Shevardnadze overthrown
2004 - The Rose Revolution elects Mikheil Saakashvili as Georgian President
Summer 2004 - Georgian troops re-enter South Ossetia to restore "territorial integrity" and order against banditry
Winter 2006 - Russia imposes food embargoes, cuts transportation and energy
Summer 2006 - Georgia sends troops back into Abkhazia
2006 - South Ossetian referendum votes for full independence
February 2008 - Kosovo independence recognized. Russian Duma votes to recognize South Ossetia and Abkhazia
April 2008 - Georgia's Saakashvili demands reversal and supplies mobilization
May-July 2008 - Violence, bellicosity, military over-flights and insults escalate on all sides
August 2008 - Georgians surround and attack Ossetian city of Tskhinvali; Russians invade; state of war is decreed and mobilization expanded; 2000 troops flown back to Georgia from Iraq by Americans
Russia has made itself clear. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin: "War has started." Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov: “We will do anything not to allow Georgia and Ukraine to join NATO.” The West is calling for ceasefires. ///
Saturday, August 9, 2008
HEARD ZONE
CHINATOWN, New York (8/08/08)
HEARD ZONE alludes to the moment of uncertainty when a migratory herd must cross a river. The “mascot” of the fresh water mosasaur is the visual reminder that those who jump first and attempt to cross are likely to discover hungry hidden predators. Today's Nile crocodile awaiting a herd of zebras that must cross the river would be the same metaphor. The site is organized into primary sections of POLITIX, VIRTUALITY, WORLD, ECONO LINES, and CENTCOMM: AT THE FRONT.
POLITIX = political fix for recreational weekenders to hard-cure self medicators. I will be attempting to aim the shining Kleig lights of 21st Century progressivism into the darkly shadowed world of the American demographic forest. Realistically, there are 300 million people on the ground in The States... and we are not all above average. In a reality-based frame, we will traverse the districts of discourse from America's unresolved tribal conflicts to villainous Corporados stealing the church collection plates!!!
VIRTUALITY = the etheric realms of organized electrons that attempt to inform, persuade and assure us as witnesses to our history of transition into an unknown somewhere. Television section opens with “MadMen Reflections in an Antique Mirror.” My focus on that series will be its dramatic presentation rather than its interior decorating aspects. The Internet sub-section will be mobbing up and netting live prey. Humans are swimming in their own Tao, Maya and/or Karma of perceptible immersion. Musica = that which is absolutely necessary and "Unforgettable.” At this juncture, the world of Print Media has as much chance for survival as our first zebra to hit the water. Psycho-demography = population dynamics and interrelational analysis; I will be sounding off to synaptic snap, the crackle of self-remembering and Pop Psyc.
WORLD = All and Everything on the "Occasion." 6.7 billion humans are each clamoring for their share of life and potential in a Malthusian environment of demand pressure and supply squeeze. The tangible and physical realms of our planet's struggle to survive will be reported.
ECONO LINES = analysis and commentary on macroeconometric trends and happenings too large to ignore. Previously, “Sub Prime BBQ” and “Dance of Debt” (on the unbalanced coupling of the U.S.A. and China trade and debt relationship) were series that will be re-introduced in this new configuration. I was pounding my shoe on the table in the first quarter of 2006 and farther back into 2005 attempting to draw attention to the obvious that the bulge of re-financing Adjustable Rate Mortgages in Q3-2007 was over a trillion dollars. The re-fis pressure would be the economic tsunami to hit our beach-front security. My effort will be to interpret macro financial numbers into naturalistic allegories. and references to the worlds of physics and energetics.
CENTCOMM: AT THE FRONT will cover the territory of the corresponding American military command. Big trouble looms from the camel corps of the North African Maghreb to the operational disposition of the Khyber Pass. ///
HEARD ZONE alludes to the moment of uncertainty when a migratory herd must cross a river. The “mascot” of the fresh water mosasaur is the visual reminder that those who jump first and attempt to cross are likely to discover hungry hidden predators. Today's Nile crocodile awaiting a herd of zebras that must cross the river would be the same metaphor. The site is organized into primary sections of POLITIX, VIRTUALITY, WORLD, ECONO LINES, and CENTCOMM: AT THE FRONT.
POLITIX = political fix for recreational weekenders to hard-cure self medicators. I will be attempting to aim the shining Kleig lights of 21st Century progressivism into the darkly shadowed world of the American demographic forest. Realistically, there are 300 million people on the ground in The States... and we are not all above average. In a reality-based frame, we will traverse the districts of discourse from America's unresolved tribal conflicts to villainous Corporados stealing the church collection plates!!!
VIRTUALITY = the etheric realms of organized electrons that attempt to inform, persuade and assure us as witnesses to our history of transition into an unknown somewhere. Television section opens with “MadMen Reflections in an Antique Mirror.” My focus on that series will be its dramatic presentation rather than its interior decorating aspects. The Internet sub-section will be mobbing up and netting live prey. Humans are swimming in their own Tao, Maya and/or Karma of perceptible immersion. Musica = that which is absolutely necessary and "Unforgettable.” At this juncture, the world of Print Media has as much chance for survival as our first zebra to hit the water. Psycho-demography = population dynamics and interrelational analysis; I will be sounding off to synaptic snap, the crackle of self-remembering and Pop Psyc.
WORLD = All and Everything on the "Occasion." 6.7 billion humans are each clamoring for their share of life and potential in a Malthusian environment of demand pressure and supply squeeze. The tangible and physical realms of our planet's struggle to survive will be reported.
ECONO LINES = analysis and commentary on macroeconometric trends and happenings too large to ignore. Previously, “Sub Prime BBQ” and “Dance of Debt” (on the unbalanced coupling of the U.S.A. and China trade and debt relationship) were series that will be re-introduced in this new configuration. I was pounding my shoe on the table in the first quarter of 2006 and farther back into 2005 attempting to draw attention to the obvious that the bulge of re-financing Adjustable Rate Mortgages in Q3-2007 was over a trillion dollars. The re-fis pressure would be the economic tsunami to hit our beach-front security. My effort will be to interpret macro financial numbers into naturalistic allegories. and references to the worlds of physics and energetics.
CENTCOMM: AT THE FRONT will cover the territory of the corresponding American military command. Big trouble looms from the camel corps of the North African Maghreb to the operational disposition of the Khyber Pass. ///
Dear John (Edwards),
MANHATTAN, New York (8/08/08)
"Even in our sleep, pain which cannot forget
Falls drop by drop upon the heart,
Until, in our own despair,
Against our will, comes wisdom,
Through the awful grace of God."
-- Aeschylus
Vanity got you...the house, the hair, the hedge fund, the hottie.Why oh why were you attracted to this woman? Bars are not good places to meet campaign workers.
The Rielle Hunter videos were terrible. Maybe the hotel flickers were better. Couldn't you see that? To my eye (even on first viewing way back when), you were "lit up" on the airplane (probably Fred Baron's). Sordid and sorry.
I sympathetically see the "son of a mill worker" but am now distracted by the $400 haircut that you just couldn't live without. I empathetically respect the private life separate from the public role but you repeatedly misled everyone including the Democratic Party (DP). The DP fortunately acted on higher wisdom than my own or we would be facing a presumptive nominee with a political death sentence.
Is it the giddiness of the ascent? Is it the "golden touch" of great fortune and fate? Is there a lesson to be learned by us all as we witness your suffering with this tragic error?
Times have changed since Grover Cleveland and you have self-destructed an opportunity to deeply and substantively contribute to the well-being of your country. You've gone from Teddy Rosevelt to Grover Cleveland in historical association...yikes!
Having written and posted about a thousand articles and commentaries on behalf of your candidacy, I will be pondering and reflecting...going forward.
Blessings and peace on your family as you miss the convention you worked so hard to achieve. So sad and my heart still goes out to you. ///
"Even in our sleep, pain which cannot forget
Falls drop by drop upon the heart,
Until, in our own despair,
Against our will, comes wisdom,
Through the awful grace of God."
-- Aeschylus
Vanity got you...the house, the hair, the hedge fund, the hottie.Why oh why were you attracted to this woman? Bars are not good places to meet campaign workers.
The Rielle Hunter videos were terrible. Maybe the hotel flickers were better. Couldn't you see that? To my eye (even on first viewing way back when), you were "lit up" on the airplane (probably Fred Baron's). Sordid and sorry.
I sympathetically see the "son of a mill worker" but am now distracted by the $400 haircut that you just couldn't live without. I empathetically respect the private life separate from the public role but you repeatedly misled everyone including the Democratic Party (DP). The DP fortunately acted on higher wisdom than my own or we would be facing a presumptive nominee with a political death sentence.
Is it the giddiness of the ascent? Is it the "golden touch" of great fortune and fate? Is there a lesson to be learned by us all as we witness your suffering with this tragic error?
Times have changed since Grover Cleveland and you have self-destructed an opportunity to deeply and substantively contribute to the well-being of your country. You've gone from Teddy Rosevelt to Grover Cleveland in historical association...yikes!
Having written and posted about a thousand articles and commentaries on behalf of your candidacy, I will be pondering and reflecting...going forward.
Blessings and peace on your family as you miss the convention you worked so hard to achieve. So sad and my heart still goes out to you. ///
Friday, August 8, 2008
Chinese Olympics Total Solar Eclipse
CHINATOWN, New York (8/08/08)
From the perspective of Chinese divination, the prophetic portent (augury) of the August 1, 2008 total solar eclipse is ominous. The associated forebodings include:
-- Change of dynasty or fall of the regime
-- Death of emperor (or Chairman of the CCP, we might presume)
-- Initiation or turning point of war
-- Natural disaster, e.g., major earthquake or volcano
-- Eruption of social chaos
Before one dismisses the astronomical event as unable to affect earthly events, consider the following: Total solar eclipses occur due to specific alignment of the Earth, Moon and Sun. That alignment will surely have a gravitational and electro-magnetic effect on the planetary energy fields and tectonic plates. The Chinese Imperial Library was maintained for two millennia; the Sichuan earthquake of July would qualify as a significant entry.
Please note some curious synchronistics. Pope John Paul II was born on and buried on the day of solar eclipses; he had been prophetically referred to as the “solar Pope.” Russian author and lion of anti-Communism Alexander Solzhenitsyn died immediately after the recent eclipse. He wrote a fascinating in-depth section in "August 1914" on the ecliptic influence and effect on military strategies of nation states that he saw as greater (or meta) spiritual beings. Mother Russia and Dragon China are "nations" of the solar energy and eclipses. The Solzhenitsyn passage states they initiate military operations synchronous with solar eclipses. It might be concluded that the Russian-Georgian conflict could dramatically escalate based on this "ecliptic influence." He writes that (alternatively) the historical and mystical Persians and Jews were influenced by lunar eclipses. (Note that one is due on August 16.)
There is recent scholarship of the classics that dates the return of Odysseus from the Trojan War to Ithaca at the time of a solar eclipse in 1178 B.C.E. In our end-of-era moment, we would be wise to consider the lessons learned and “signs given” since ancient times. In recent memory, the solar eclipse of August 6, 1990 coincided with Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait. The 1991 Gulf War coalition response was launched on January 17, the day after another solar eclipse.
Generally a total solar eclipse crosses any portion of the Earth’s surface about once in 350 years or twice in an "age of civilization cycle" (see Rodney Collins's "Theory of Celestial Influences"). For those individuals troubled and seeking immediate spiritual guidance, Chogyam Trungpa's "Cutting through Spiritual Materialism" is a worthy reference point for this junction.
Before you conclude that you have wasted your time and attention speculating on invisible influences, recall that the Aztec calendar predicted the arrival of Cortez on their beach to the very day...on the occasion of an eclipse! ///
From the perspective of Chinese divination, the prophetic portent (augury) of the August 1, 2008 total solar eclipse is ominous. The associated forebodings include:
-- Change of dynasty or fall of the regime
-- Death of emperor (or Chairman of the CCP, we might presume)
-- Initiation or turning point of war
-- Natural disaster, e.g., major earthquake or volcano
-- Eruption of social chaos
Before one dismisses the astronomical event as unable to affect earthly events, consider the following: Total solar eclipses occur due to specific alignment of the Earth, Moon and Sun. That alignment will surely have a gravitational and electro-magnetic effect on the planetary energy fields and tectonic plates. The Chinese Imperial Library was maintained for two millennia; the Sichuan earthquake of July would qualify as a significant entry.
Please note some curious synchronistics. Pope John Paul II was born on and buried on the day of solar eclipses; he had been prophetically referred to as the “solar Pope.” Russian author and lion of anti-Communism Alexander Solzhenitsyn died immediately after the recent eclipse. He wrote a fascinating in-depth section in "August 1914" on the ecliptic influence and effect on military strategies of nation states that he saw as greater (or meta) spiritual beings. Mother Russia and Dragon China are "nations" of the solar energy and eclipses. The Solzhenitsyn passage states they initiate military operations synchronous with solar eclipses. It might be concluded that the Russian-Georgian conflict could dramatically escalate based on this "ecliptic influence." He writes that (alternatively) the historical and mystical Persians and Jews were influenced by lunar eclipses. (Note that one is due on August 16.)
There is recent scholarship of the classics that dates the return of Odysseus from the Trojan War to Ithaca at the time of a solar eclipse in 1178 B.C.E. In our end-of-era moment, we would be wise to consider the lessons learned and “signs given” since ancient times. In recent memory, the solar eclipse of August 6, 1990 coincided with Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait. The 1991 Gulf War coalition response was launched on January 17, the day after another solar eclipse.
Generally a total solar eclipse crosses any portion of the Earth’s surface about once in 350 years or twice in an "age of civilization cycle" (see Rodney Collins's "Theory of Celestial Influences"). For those individuals troubled and seeking immediate spiritual guidance, Chogyam Trungpa's "Cutting through Spiritual Materialism" is a worthy reference point for this junction.
Before you conclude that you have wasted your time and attention speculating on invisible influences, recall that the Aztec calendar predicted the arrival of Cortez on their beach to the very day...on the occasion of an eclipse! ///
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